Share-Based Compensation

We currently issue equity awards under the Amended and Restated CoreLogic, Inc. 2011 Performance Incentive Plan, as amended, which was initially approved by our stockholders at our Annual Meeting, held on May 19, 2011 with an amendment and restatement approved by our stockholders at our Annual Meeting held on July 29, 2014, and a subsequent technical amendment by the Board in December 2016 ("Plan"). The Plan includes the ability to grant RSUs, PBRSUs and stock options. Prior to the approval of the Plan, we issued share-based awards under the CoreLogic, Inc. 2006 Incentive Plan. The Plan provides for up to 21,909,000 shares of the Company's common stock to be available for award grants.

We have primarily utilized RSUs, PBRSUs and stock options as our share-based compensation instruments for employees and directors. The fair value of any share-based compensation instrument grant is based on the market value of our shares on the date of grant and is recognized as compensation expense over its vesting period.

Restricted Stock Units

For the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015, we awarded 708,160, 967,826 and 965,978 RSUs, respectively, with an estimated fair value of $28.5 million, $33.7 million and $34.1 million, respectively. The RSU awards vest ratably over 3 years. RSU activity for the year ended December 31, 2017 is as follows:



(in thousands, except weighted average fair value prices)	Number of Shares		Weighted Average Grant-Date Fair Value
Unvested RSUs outstanding at December 31, 2016	1,555		$	34.14
RSUs granted	708		$	40.32
RSUs vested	(884	)	$	34.25
RSUs forfeited	(70	)	$	36.29
Unvested RSUs outstanding at December 31, 2017	1,309		$	37.54

As of December 31, 2017, there was $27.3 million of total unrecognized compensation cost related to unvested RSUs that is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of 1.8 years. The fair value of RSUs is based on the market value of the Company’s shares on the date of grant. For the year ended December 31, 2017, our share-based compensation expense included $4.2 million from a one-time vesting acceleration in accordance with our plan.

Performance-Based Restricted Stock Units

For the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015, we awarded 309,675, 285,475 and 231,624 PBRSUs, respectively, with an estimated fair value of $12.7 million, $10.1 million and $7.9 million, respectively. These awards could be subject to service-based, performance-based and market-based vesting. The performance period for the PBRSUs awarded during 2017 is from January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2019, and the performance metric is adjusted earnings per share and market-based conditions. Subject to satisfaction of the performance criteria, the 2017 awards will vest on December 31, 2019.

The performance period for the PBRSUs awarded during 2016 is from January 1, 2016 to December 31, 2018, and the performance metric is adjusted earnings per share and market-based conditions. Subject to satisfaction of the performance criteria, the 2016 awards will vest on December 31, 2018. The performance period for the PBRSUs awarded during 2015 was from January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2017, and the performance metric was adjusted earnings per share and market based conditions. Based on achievement of the performance criteria, the 2015 awards were earned at 150%.

The fair values of the 2017, 2016, and 2015 awards were estimated using Monte-Carlo simulation with the following weighted-average assumptions:



	2017		2016		2015

Expected dividend yield	—	%	—	%	—	%
Risk-free interest rate ⁽¹⁾	1.47	%	0.99	%	0.93	%
Expected volatility ⁽²⁾	27.83	%	25.12	%	24.01	%
Average total shareholder return ⁽²⁾	1.46	%	(1.23	)%	8.37	%


(1)	The risk-free interest rate for the periods within the contractual term of the PBRSUs is based on the U.S. Treasury yield curve in effect at the time of the grant.


(2)	The expected volatility and average total shareholder return is a measure of the amount by which a stock price has fluctuated or is expected to fluctuate based primarily on our and our peers' historical data.

PBRSU activity for the year ended December 31, 2017 is as follows:



(in thousands, except weighted average fair value prices)	Number of Shares		Weighted Average Grant-Date Fair Value
Unvested PBRSUs outstanding at December 31, 2016	738		$	34.13
PBRSUs granted	310		$	41.08
PBRSUs vested	(227	)	$	31.90
PBRSUs forfeited	(162	)	$	36.48
Unvested PBRSUs outstanding at December 31, 2017	659		$	37.22

As of December 31, 2017, there was $6.9 million of total unrecognized compensation cost related to unvested PBRSUs that is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of 1.7 years. The fair value of PBRSUs is based on the market value of the Company’s shares on the date of grant.

Stock Options

We did not issue any options for the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015, respectively. Option activity for the year ended December 31, 2017 is as follows:



(in thousands, except weighted average prices)	Number of Shares		Weighted Average Exercise Price		Weighted Average Remaining Contractual Term	Aggregate Intrinsic Value
Options outstanding at December 31, 2016	1,504		$	21.22
Options exercised	(318	)	$	23.25
Options vested, exercisable, and outstanding December 31, 2017	1,186		$	20.67	2.3	$	30,295

As of December 31, 2017, there was no unrecognized compensation cost related to unvested stock options.

The intrinsic value of options exercised was $5.9 million, $4.5 million and $9.0 million for the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015, respectively. This intrinsic value represents the difference between the fair market value of the Company’s common stock on the date of exercise and the exercise price of each option.

Employee Stock Purchase Plan

The employee stock purchase plan allows eligible employees to purchase our common stock at 85.0% of the lesser of the closing price on the first day or the last day of each quarter. Our employee stock purchase plan was approved by our stockholders at our 2012 annual meeting of stockholders and the first offering period commenced in October 2012. We recognized an expense for the amount equal to the estimated fair value of the discount during the offering period.

The following table sets forth the share-based compensation expense recognized for the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015:



(in thousands)	2017		2016		2015
Restricted stock units	$	29,188	$	25,839	$	24,591
Performance-based restricted stock units	4,987		11,702		8,080
Stock options	144		1,017		1,923
Employee stock purchase plan	1,548		1,291		1,192
	$	35,867	$	39,849	$	35,786

The above share-based compensation expense has $4.9 million, $4.5 million and $4.0 million included within cost of services for the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015, respectively.