Employee Benefit Plans (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2019

The components of net periodic pension cost for the Pension Plan and LaBarge Retirement Plan in aggregate are as follows:



	(In thousands) Years Ended December 31,
	2019			2018			2017
Service cost	$	503		$	601		$	531
Interest cost	1,388			1,268			1,329
Expected return on plan assets	(1,644		)	(1,784		)	(1,530		)
Amortization of actuarial losses	885			743			810
Net periodic pension cost	$	1,132		$	828		$	1,140

Reclassification out of Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income

The components of the reclassifications of net actuarial losses from accumulated other comprehensive loss to net income for 2019 were as follows:



	(In thousands) Year Ended December 31,
	2019
Amortization of actuarial loss - total before tax ⁽¹⁾	$	885
Tax benefit	(209		)
Net of tax	$	676


(1)	The amortization expense is included in the computation of periodic pension cost and is a decrease to net income upon reclassification from accumulated other comprehensive loss.

Obligation and Funded Status of Defined Benefit Pension Plan and Retirement Plan

The obligations, fair value of plan assets, and funded status of both plans are as follows:



	(In thousands) December 31,
	2019			2018
Change in benefit obligation⁽¹⁾
Beginning benefit obligation (January 1)	$	33,951		$	36,002
Service cost	503			601
Interest cost	1,388			1,268
Actuarial (gain) loss	4,769			(2,415		)
Benefits paid	(1,526		)	(1,505		)
Ending benefit obligation (December 31)	$	39,085		$	33,951
Change in plan assets
Beginning fair value of plan assets (January 1)	$	23,749		$	25,646
Return on assets	4,347			(1,951		)
Employer contribution	1,873			1,559
Benefits paid	(1,526		)	(1,505		)
Ending fair value of plan assets (December 31)	$	28,443		$	23,749
Funded status (underfunded)	$	(10,642	)	$	(10,202	)
Amounts recognized in the consolidated balance sheet
Current liabilities	$	—		$	580
Non-current liabilities	$	10,642		$	9,622
Unrecognized loss included in accumulated other comprehensive loss
Beginning unrecognized loss, before tax (January 1)	$	9,485		$	8,908
Amortization	(885		)	(743		)
Liability (gain) loss	4,769			(2,415		)
Asset loss (gain)	(2,709		)	3,735
Ending unrecognized loss, before tax (December 31)	10,660			9,485
Tax impact	(2,544		)	(2,263		)
Unrecognized loss included in accumulated other comprehensive loss, net of tax	$	8,116		$	7,222


(1)	Projected benefit obligation equals the accumulated benefit obligation for the plans.

Company's Pension Plan Asset Allocation, by Asset Category

Our Pension Plan asset allocations at December 31, 2019 and 2018, by asset category, were as follows:



	December 31,
	2019		2018
Equity securities	69	%	57	%
Cash and equivalents	1	%	1	%
Debt securities	30	%	42	%
Total⁽¹⁾	100	%	100	%


(1)	Our overall investment strategy is to achieve an asset allocation within the following ranges to achieve an appropriate rate of return relative to risk.



Cash	0-10%
Fixed income securities	15-75%
Equities	30-80%



	(In thousands) Year Ended December 31, 2019
	Level 1		Level 2		Level 3		Total
Cash and cash equivalents	$	232	$	—	$	—	$	232
Fixed income securities	3,247		—		—		3,247
Equities⁽¹⁾	2,645		—		—		2,645
Other investments	1,552		—		—		1,552
Total plan assets at fair value	$	7,676	$	—	$	—	7,676
Pooled funds							20,767
Total fair value of plan assets							$	28,443



	(In thousands) Year Ended December 31, 2018
	Level 1		Level 2		Level 3		Total
Cash and cash equivalents	$	153	$	—	$	—	$	153
Fixed income securities	3,647		—		—		3,647
Equities⁽¹⁾	1,475		—		—		1,475
Other investments	851		—		—		851
Total plan assets at fair value	$	6,126	$	—	$	—	6,126
Pooled funds							17,623
Total fair value of plan assets							$	23,749


(1)	Represents mutual funds and commingled accounts which invest primarily in equities, but may also hold fixed income securities, cash and other investments. Commingled funds with publicly quoted prices and actively traded are classified as Level 1 investments.

Weighted Average Assumptions Used to Determine Net Periodic Benefit Cost

The assumptions used to compute the fair value of stock option grants under the Stock Incentive Plans for years ended December 31, 2019, 2018, and 2017 were as follows:



	Years Ended December 31,
	2019		2018		2017
Risk-free interest rate	1.92	%	2.65	%	1.75	%
Expected volatility	40.44	%	53.66	%	50.37	%
Expected dividends	—		—		—
Expected term (in months)	60		36		48

The weighted-average assumptions used to determine the net periodic benefit costs under the two plans were as follows:



	Years Ended December 31,
	2019		2018		2017
Discount rate used to determine pension expense
Pension Plan	3.22	%	3.64	%	4.18	%
LaBarge Retirement Plan	2.85	%	3.40	%	3.75	%

The weighted-average assumptions used to determine the benefit obligations under the two plans were as follows:



	December 31,
	2019		2018		2017
Discount rate used to determine value of obligations
Pension Plan	4.23	%	4.23	%	3.64	%
LaBarge Retirement Plan	4.00	%	4.00	%	3.40	%
Long-term rate of return - Pension Plan only	7.00	%	7.00	%	7.00	%

Expected Future Benefit Payments Under Pension Plans

The following benefit payments under both plans, which reflect expected future service, as appropriate, are expected to be paid:



	(In thousands)
	Pension Plan		LaBarge Retirement Plan
2020	$	1,252	$	589
2021	1,339		569
2022	1,452		545
2023	1,495		517
2024	1,607		486
2025 - 2029	9,002		2,012