Employee Benefit Plans (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2021

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,
	2021		2020		2019
Service cost	$	676	$	622	$	503
Interest cost	1,010		1,209		1,388
Expected return on plan assets	(1,895)		(1,761)		(1,644)
Amortization of actuarial losses	1,285		993		885
Net periodic pension cost	$	1,076	$	1,063	$	1,132

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 2021 were as follows:


	(In thousands) Year Ended December 31,
	2021
Amortization of actuarial loss - total before tax (1)	$	1,285
Tax benefit	(309)
Net of tax	$	976

(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,
	2021		2020
Change in benefit obligation(1)
Beginning benefit obligation (January 1)	$	42,804	$	39,085
Service cost	676		622
Interest cost	1,010		1,209
Actuarial (gain) loss	(2,537)		3,491
Benefits paid	(2,148)		(1,603)
Ending benefit obligation (December 31)	$	39,805	$	42,804
Change in plan assets
Beginning fair value of plan assets (January 1)	$	30,632	$	28,443
Return on assets	3,122		2,300
Employer contribution	2,095		1,492
Benefits paid	(2,151)		(1,603)
Ending fair value of plan assets (December 31)	$	33,698	$	30,632
Funded status (underfunded)	$	(6,107)	$	(12,172)
Amounts recognized in the consolidated balance sheet
Current liabilities	$	427	$	605
Non-current liabilities	$	5,680	$	11,567
Unrecognized loss included in accumulated other comprehensive loss
Beginning unrecognized loss, before tax (January 1)	$	12,620	$	10,660
Amortization	(1,282)		(993)
Liability (gain) loss	(2,537)		3,491
Asset (gain) loss	(1,228)		(538)
Ending unrecognized loss, before tax (December 31)	7,573		12,620
Tax impact	(1,827)		(3,003)
Unrecognized loss included in accumulated other comprehensive loss, net of tax	$	5,746	$	9,617

(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, 2021 and 2020, by asset category, were as follows:


	December 31,
	2021	2020
Equity securities	69%	67%
Cash and equivalents	1%	—%
Debt securities	30%	33%
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, 2021
	Level 1		Level 2		Level 3		Total
Cash and cash equivalents	$	414	$	—	$	—	$	414
Fixed income securities	3,648		—		—		3,648
Equities(1)	7,446		—		—		7,446
Other investments	1,199		—		—		1,199
Total plan assets at fair value	$	12,707	$	—	$	—	12,707
Pooled funds							20,991
Total fair value of plan assets							$	33,698


	(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

(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, 2021, 2020, and 2019 were as follows:


	Years Ended December 31,
	2021	2020		2019
Risk-free interest rate	N/A	1.59	%	1.92	%
Expected volatility	N/A	37.75	%	40.44	%
Expected dividends	N/A	—		—
Expected term (in months)	N/A	66		60

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


	Years Ended December 31,
	2021	2020	2019
Discount rate used to determine pension expense
Pension Plan	2.50%	3.22%	4.23%
LaBarge Retirement Plan	1.85%	2.85%	4.00%

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


	December 31,
	2021	2020	2019
Discount rate used to determine value of obligations
Pension Plan	2.85%	2.50%	3.22%
LaBarge Retirement Plan	2.35%	1.85%	2.85%
Long-term rate of return - Pension Plan only	6.25%	6.25%	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
2022	$	1,389	$	427
2023	$	1,457	$	410
2024	$	1,580	$	391
2025	$	1,668	$	372
2026	$	1,757	$	354
2027 - 2031	$	9,480	$	1,504