Note 6 - Stockholders' Equity

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2022

Notes to Financial Statements

Stockholders' Equity Note Disclosure [Text Block]

Note 6.    Stockholders’ Equity

Stock-based Compensation Plans

The Company has stock incentive plans for executives, directors and eligible employees. Stock awards include performance shares, restricted stock and stock options. Stock-based compensation expense for restricted stock unit and performance-based grants (collectively "incentive compensation") to employees and shares issued to non-employee directors totaled $1.3 million and $2.5 million for the three and six months ended June 30, 2022, respectively, and $2.8 million and $3.3 million for the three and six months ended June 30, 2021, respectively. At June 30, 2022, there was $9.1 million of unrecognized stock-based compensation cost which is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average remaining vesting period of 2.4 years.

The following table summarizes the grants awarded during the six months ended June 30, 2022:

Grant date	Award type	Number granted		Grant date fair value
June 21, 2022	Restricted stock		1,103,801		$4.43
June 21, 2022	Performance based		322,799		$3.78
June 28, 2022	Directors retainer		98,310		$4.24

In connection with the vesting of incentive compensation, employees have in the past, at their election and when permitted by us, chosen to satisfy their minimum tax withholding obligations through net share settlement, pursuant to which the Company withholds the number of shares necessary to satisfy such withholding obligations and pays the obligations in cash.  As a result, in the first six months of 2022 we withheld 737,258 shares valued at approximately $3.7 million, or approximately $4.99 per share. In the first six months of 2021 we withheld 574,251 shares valued at approximately $4.5 million, or approximately $7.88 per share.

Common Stock Dividends

On May 5, 2022, our Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.00625 per share of common stock, consisting of $0.00375 per share for the minimum dividend component of our common stock dividend policy and $0.0025 per share for the silver-linked dividend component of the policy, for a total dividend of $3.4 million paid in June 2022. The realized silver price of $24.68 in the first quarter of 2022 satisfied the criterion for the silver-linked dividend component of our common stock dividend policy.