Equity Compensation Plans

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2023

Equity Compensation Plans

Equity Compensation Plans

Note 12: Equity Compensation Plans

Stock-based awards are outstanding under the Company’s 2019 Equity Incentive Plan, as amended and restated (the “2019 Plan”).  The 2019 Plan was originally approved at the May 2019 annual stockholders’ meeting and authorized 600,000 shares, and at the May 2021 annual stockholders’ meeting, the Company obtained stockholder approval to increase the number of shares of common stock authorized for issuance under the plan by 1,200,000 shares, from 600,000 shares to 1,800,000 shares.  Following the approval of the 2019 Plan, no further awards will be granted under any other prior plan.  

The 2019 Plan authorizes the granting of qualified stock options, non-qualified stock options, restricted stock, restricted stock units, and stock appreciation rights (“SARs”).  Awards may be granted to selected directors, officers, employees or eligible service providers under the 2019 Plan at the discretion of the Compensation Committee of the Company’s Board of Directors.  As of December 31, 2023, 990,178 shares remained available for issuance under the 2019 Plan.

The Company has granted only restricted stock units under the 2019 Equity Incentive Plan.

Generally, restricted stock and restricted stock units granted under the 2019 Plan vest three years from the grant date, but the Compensation Committee of the Company’s Board of Directors has discretionary authority to change the terms of particular awards including the vesting schedule.

Under the 2019 Plan, unless otherwise provided in an award agreement, upon the occurrence of a change in control, all stock options and SARs then held by the participant will become fully exercisable immediately, and all stock awards and cash incentive awards will become fully earned and vested immediately if, (i) the 2019 Plan is not an obligation of the successor entity following a change in control or (ii) the 2019 Plan is an obligation of the successor entity following a change in control and the participant incurs a termination of service without cause or for good reason following the change in control.  Notwithstanding the immediately preceding sentence, if the vesting of an award is conditioned upon the achievement of performance measures, then such vesting will generally be subject to the following: if, at the time of the change in control, the performance measures are less than 50% attained (pro rata based upon the time of the period through the change in control), the award will become vested and exercisable on a fractional basis with the numerator being equal to the percentage of attainment and the denominator being 50%; and if, at the time of the change in control, the performance measures are at least 50% attained (pro rata based upon the time of the period through the change in control), the award will become fully earned and vested immediately upon the change in control.

Awards of restricted stock units under the 2019 Plan generally entitled holders to voting and dividend rights upon grant and are subject to forfeiture until certain restrictions have lapsed including employment for a specific period.  Awards of restricted stock units under the 2019 Plan are also subject to forfeiture until certain restrictions have lapsed including employment for a specific period, but do not entitle holders to voting rights until the restricted period ends and shares are transferred in connection with the units.  

Total compensation cost that has been charged for the 2019 Plan was $3.6 million, $3.0 million and $1.4 million for the years ending December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021 respectively.

There were 240,149 and 279,838 restricted stock units granted during the years ending December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively. Compensation expense is recognized over the vesting period of the restricted stock unit based on the market value of the award on the grant date.

A summary of changes in the Company’s unvested restricted awards for the years ending December 31, 2023, is as follows:

	December 31, 2023
		Weighted
	Restricted	Average
	Stock Shares	Grant Date
	and Units	Fair Value
Unvested at January 1	649,210	$	12.84
Granted	240,149		17.02
Vested	(150,464)		12.56
Forfeited	(29,658)		14.14
Unvested at December 31	709,237	$	14.26

Total unrecognized compensation cost of restricted stock unit awards was $4.0 million as of December 31, 2023, which is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of 1.70 years.