Employee Benefit Plans (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2020

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,
	2020		2019		2018
Service cost	$	622	$	503	$	601
Interest cost	1,209		1,388		1,268
Expected return on plan assets	(1,761)		(1,644)		(1,784)
Amortization of actuarial losses	993		885		743
Net periodic pension cost	$	1,063	$	1,132	$	828

Schedule of 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 2020 were as follows:


	(In thousands) Year Ended December 31,
	2020
Amortization of actuarial loss - total before tax (1)	$	993
Tax benefit	(236)
Net of tax	$	757

(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.

Schedule of 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,
	2020		2019
Change in benefit obligation(1)
Beginning benefit obligation (January 1)	$	39,085	$	33,951
Service cost	622		503
Interest cost	1,209		1,388
Actuarial (gain) loss	3,491		4,769
Benefits paid	(1,603)		(1,526)
Ending benefit obligation (December 31)	$	42,804	$	39,085
Change in plan assets
Beginning fair value of plan assets (January 1)	$	28,443	$	23,749
Return on assets	2,300		4,347
Employer contribution	1,492		1,873
Benefits paid	(1,603)		(1,526)
Ending fair value of plan assets (December 31)	$	30,632	$	28,443
Funded status (underfunded)	$	(12,172)	$	(10,642)
Amounts recognized in the consolidated balance sheet
Current liabilities	$	605	$	588
Non-current liabilities	$	11,567	$	10,054
Unrecognized loss included in accumulated other comprehensive loss
Beginning unrecognized loss, before tax (January 1)	$	10,660	$	9,485
Amortization	(993)		(885)
Liability (gain) loss	3,491		4,769
Asset loss (gain)	(538)		(2,709)
Ending unrecognized loss, before tax (December 31)	12,620		10,660
Tax impact	(3,003)		(2,544)
Unrecognized loss included in accumulated other comprehensive loss, net of tax	$	9,617	$	8,116

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

Schedule of Company's Pension Plan Asset Allocation, by Asset Category

Our Pension Plan asset allocations at December 31, 2020 and 2019, by asset category, were as follows:


	December 31,
	2020	2019
Equity securities	67%	69%
Cash and equivalents	—%	1%
Debt securities	33%	30%
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, 2020
	Level 1		Level 2		Level 3		Total
Cash and cash equivalents	$	136	$	—	$	—	$	136
Fixed income securities	2,983		—		—		2,983
Equities(1)	3,331		—		—		3,331
Other investments	1,097		—		—		1,097
Total plan assets at fair value	$	7,547	$	—	$	—	7,547
Pooled funds							23,085
Total fair value of plan assets							$	30,632


	(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

(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, 2020, 2019, and 2018 were as follows:


	Years Ended December 31,
	2020		2019		2018
Risk-free interest rate	1.59	%	1.92	%	2.65	%
Expected volatility	37.75	%	40.44	%	53.66	%
Expected dividends	—		—		—
Expected term (in months)	66		60		36

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


	Years Ended December 31,
	2020	2019	2018
Discount rate used to determine pension expense
Pension Plan	3.22%	4.23%	3.64%
LaBarge Retirement Plan	2.85%	4.00%	3.40%

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


	December 31,
	2020	2019	2018
Discount rate used to determine value of obligations
Pension Plan	2.50%	3.22%	4.23%
LaBarge Retirement Plan	1.85%	2.85%	4.00%
Long-term rate of return - Pension Plan only	6.25%	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
2021	$	1,277	$	605
2022	$	1,409	$	578
2023	$	1,460	$	549
2024	$	1,577	$	515
2025	$	1,647	$	476
2026 - 2030	$	9,235	$	1,946