At the Company's annual meeting of stockholders held on June 6, 2019, stockholders approved the Columbia Financial, Inc. 2019 Equity Incentive Plan ("2019 Plan") which provides for the issuance of up to 7,949,996 shares (2,271,427 restricted stock awards and 5,678,569 stock options) of common stock.

On March 7, 2024, 27,162 shares of restricted stock were awarded, with a grant date fair value of 16.57 per share. To fund the grant of restricted common stock, the Company issued shares from authorized but unissued shares.

On March 6, 2024, 185,279 shares of restricted stock were awarded, with a grant date fair value of 16.49 per share. To fund the grant of restricted common stock, the Company issued shares from authorized but unissued shares.

On May 1, 2023, 201,887 shares of restricted stock were awarded, with a grant date fair value of $15.94 per share. To fund the grant of restricted common stock, the Company issued shares from authorized unissued shares.

On June 20, 2023, 24,687 shares of restricted stock were awarded, with a grant date fair value of $18.23 per share. To fund the grant of restricted common stock, the Company issued shares from authorized unissued shares.

At March 31, 2024, there were 367,567 shares remaining available for future restricted stock awards and 1,427,137 shares remaining available for future stock option grants under the 2019 Plan.

Restricted shares granted under the 2019 Plan generally vest in equal installments, over performance or service periods ranging from 1 year to 5 years, beginning 1 year from the date of grant. A portion of restricted shares awarded are performance awards, which vest upon the satisfactory attainment of certain corporate financial targets. Management recognizes compensation expense for the fair value of restricted shares on a straight-line basis over the requisite performance or service period. During the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023, approximately $1.3 million and $1.0 million, respectively, in expense was recognized in regard to these awards. The expected future compensation expense related to the 620,547 non-vested restricted shares outstanding at March 31, 2024 is approximately $7.4 million over a weighted average period of 1.8 years.


	Number of Restricted Shares	Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value

Non-vested at January 1, 2024	435,541	$	16.77
Grants	212,441	16.50
Vested	(25,890)	20.14
Forfeited	(1,545)	16.54







Non-vested at March 31, 2024	620,547	$	16.54


	Number of Restricted Shares	Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value

Non-vested at January 1, 2023	430,954	$	17.31

Vested	(26,424)	21.16
Forfeited	(1,929)	21.12








Non-vested at March 31, 2023	402,601	$	17.10

On March 6, 2024, options to purchase 286,265 shares of Company common stock were awarded with a grant date fair value of $6.13 per option. Stock options granted under the 2019 Plan generally vest in equal installments over the service period of 3 years beginning 1 year from the date of grant. These stock options were granted at an exercise price of $16.49, which represents the fair value of the Company's common stock price on the grant date based on the closing market price and have an expiration period of approximately 10 years. The fair value of stock options granted was estimated utilizing the Black-Scholes option pricing model using the following assumptions: expected life of 6 years, risk-free rate of return of 4.12%, volatility of 29.13%, and a dividend yield of 0.00%.

On May 1, 2023, options to purchase 286,016 shares of Company common stock were awarded with a grant date fair value of $5.48 per option. Stock options granted under the 2019 Plan generally vest in equal installments over the service period of 3 years beginning 1 year from the date of grant. These stock options were granted at an exercise price of $15.94, which represents the fair value of the Company's common stock price on the grant date based on the closing market price and have an expiration period of approximately 10 years. The fair value of stock options granted was estimated utilizing the Black-Scholes option pricing model using the following assumptions: expected life of 6 years, risk-free rate of return of 3.60%, volatility of 27.07%, and a dividend yield of 0.00%.

The expected life of the options represents the period of time that stock options are expected to be outstanding and is estimated using the simplified approach, which assumes that all outstanding options will be exercised at the midpoint of the vesting date and full contractual term. The risk-free rate of return is based on the rates on the grant date of a U.S. Treasury Note with a term equal to the expected option life. The expected volatility is based on the historical daily stock prices of the Company stock. The Company has not paid any cash dividends on its common stock.

Management recognizes expense for the fair value of these awards on a straight-line basis over the requisite service period. During the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023, approximately $951,000 and $921,000 in expense was recognized in regard to these awards. The expected future compensation expense related to the 1,265,884 non-vested options outstanding at March 31, 2024 is $4.3 million over a weighted average period of 2.0 years.


	Number of Stock Options	Weighted Average Exercise Price		Weighted Average Remaining Contractual Term (in years)	Aggregate Intrinsic Value

Outstanding, January 1, 2024	3,584,069	$	16.20	6.1	$	11,602,267
Granted	286,265	16.49		—	—
Exercised	(28,051)	15.60		—	—
Expired	(1,412)	15.60		—	—
Forfeited	(5,832)	17.29		—	—
Outstanding, March 31, 2024	3,835,039	$	16.22	6.2	$	5,050,150









Options exercisable at March 31, 2024	2,569,155	$	16.12	5.6	$	3,590,728


	Number of Stock Options	Weighted Average Exercise Price		Weighted Average Remaining Contractual Term (in years)	Aggregate Intrinsic Value

Outstanding, January 1, 2023	3,436,869	$	16.26	6.9	$	18,435,239

Exercised	(3,618)	15.60		—	—
Expired	(2,117)	15.60		—	—
Forfeited	(8,055)	20.03		—	—








Outstanding, March 31, 2023	3,423,079	$	16.25	6.7	$	7,893,117
Options exercisable at March 31, 2023	1,880,693	$	15.85	6.4	$	4,711,769

The aggregate intrinsic value in the table above represents the total pre-tax intrinsic value, the difference between the Company's closing stock price on the last trading day of the period and the exercise price, multiplied by the number of in-the-money options.