STOCK-BASED COMPENSATION

The Company has stock incentive plans for executives and eligible employees. Stock awards include stock options, restricted stock, and performance shares. Stock-based compensation expense for the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016, and 2015 was $10.5 million, $9.7 million and $9.3 million, respectively. At December 31, 2017, there was $6.1 million of unrecognized stock-based compensation cost which is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average remaining vesting period of 1.4 years.

Stock Options and Stock Appreciation Rights

Stock options and stock appreciation rights (SARs) granted under the Company’s incentive plans vest over three years and are exercisable over a period not to exceed ten years from the grant date. The exercise price of stock options is equal to the fair market value of the shares on the date of the grant. The value of each stock option award is estimated using the Black-Scholes option pricing model. Stock options are accounted for as equity awards and SARs are accounted for as liability awards and remeasured at each reporting date. SARs, when vested, provide the participant the right to receive cash equal to the excess of the market price of the shares over the exercise price when exercised.

The following table sets forth the weighted average fair value of stock options and the assumptions used to estimate the fair value of the stock options using the Black-Scholes option valuation model:



	2017			2016			2015
Weighted average fair value of stock options granted	$	3.91		$	1.06		$	2.65
Volatility	67.07		%	61.75		%	55.71		%
Expected life in years	4.00			3.99			4.75
Risk-free interest rate	1.69		%	1.50		%	1.51		%
Dividend yield	—			—			—

The following table summarizes stock option and SAR activity for the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016, and 2015:



	Stock Options				SARs
	Shares		Weighted Average Exercise Price		Shares		Weighted Average Exercise Price
Outstanding at December 31, 2014	598,346		$	16.26	46,572		$	14.06
Granted	310,028		5.57		—		—
Canceled/forfeited	(238,365	)	12.69		—		—
Outstanding at December 31, 2015	670,009		12.58		46,572		14.06
Granted	183,251		2.19		—		—
Exercised	(170,897	)	7.81		—		—
Canceled/forfeited	(25,752	)	16.76		(4,420	)	13.31
Outstanding at December 31, 2016	656,611		10.76		42,152		14.14
Granted	14,820		7.60		—		—
Exercised	(26,966	)	3.28		—		—
Canceled/forfeited	(27,019	)	21.88		—		—
Outstanding at December 31, 2017	617,446		$	10.53	42,152		$	14.14

The following table summarizes outstanding stock options as of December 31, 2017.



Range of Exercise Price	Number Outstanding	Weighted Average Exercise Price		Weighted Average Remaining Contractual Life (Years)	Aggregate Intrinsic Value (in thousands)
$ 0.00-$10.00	434,520	$	5.45	7.24
$10.00-$20.00	47,051	12.73		5.68
$20.00-$30.00	133,692	25.64		4.33
$30.00-$40.00	—	—		0.00
$40.00-$50.00	2,183	48.50		0.03
Outstanding	617,446	$	10.53	6.47	$	1,127
Vested and expected to vest	601,545	$	10.71	6.42	$	1,065
Exercisable	427,730	$	13.62	5.81	$	377

At December 31, 2017, there was $0.1 million of unrecognized compensation cost related to non-vested stock options to be recognized over a weighted average period of 1.0 year.

The total intrinsic value of options exercised for the year ended December 31, 2017 was $0.2 million. Cash received from options exercised for the year ended December 31, 2017 was $0.1 million for which there was no related tax benefit. The grant date fair value for stock options vested during the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016, and 2015 was $0.5 million, $1.0 million and $1.4 million, respectively.

Restricted Stock

Restricted stock granted under the Company’s incentive plans are accounted for based on the market value of the underlying shares on the date of grant and vest in equal installments annually over three years. Restricted stock awards are accounted for as equity awards. Holders of restricted stock are entitled to vote the shares and to receive any dividends declared on the shares.

The following table summarizes restricted stock activity for the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016, and 2015:



	Restricted Stock
	Number of Shares		Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value
Outstanding at December 31, 2014	901,999		$	12.19
Granted	1,180,384		5.49
Vested	(317,122	)	13.38
Cancelled/Forfeited	(257,849	)	7.59
Outstanding at December 31, 2015	1,507,412		7.49
Granted	1,768,746		3.72
Vested	(681,829	)	8.51
Cancelled/Forfeited	(160,414	)	7.16
Outstanding at December 31, 2016	2,433,915		4.48
Granted	799,165		8.78
Vested	(1,023,708	)	5.14
Cancelled/Forfeited	(53,527	)	5.90
Outstanding at December 31, 2017	2,155,845		$	5.72

At December 31, 2017, there was $3.5 million of unrecognized compensation cost related to restricted stock awards to be recognized over a weighted-average period of 1.3 years.

Performance Shares

Performance shares granted under the Company’s incentive plans are accounted for at fair value using a Monte Carlo simulation valuation model on the date of grant. Performance share awards are accounted for as equity awards. The performance shares vest at the end of a three-year service period if relative stockholder return and internal performance metrics are met. The existence of a market condition requires recognition of compensation cost for the performance share awards over the requisite period regardless of whether the relative stockholder return metric is met.

The following table summarizes performance shares activity for the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016, and 2015:



	Performance Shares
	Number of Shares		Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value
Outstanding at December 31, 2014	516,830		$	17.61
Granted	809,293		6.97
Cancelled/Forfeited	(190,988	)	15.62
Outstanding at December 31, 2015	1,135,135		10.35
Granted	1,437,077		1.79
Cancelled/Forfeited	(199,580	)	17.98
Outstanding at December 31, 2016	2,372,632		4.53
Granted	316,213		11.58
Vested	(66,696	)	14.18
Cancelled/Forfeited	(253,868	)	11.56
Outstanding at December 31, 2017	2,368,281		$	4.44

At December 31, 2017, there was $2.6 million of unrecognized compensation cost related to performance shares to be recognized over a weighted average period of 1.6 years.