Under the Company’s Employee Stock Option Plan, as amended and restated as of April 4, 2013 (the “Plan”), the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors, which consists of three of the Company’s non-employee directors, has the authority to grant participants incentive stock options, nonqualified stock options, restricted stock, stock appreciation rights and stock awards, for up to 11,000,000 shares of common stock.

Stock options granted to participants under the plan generally become exercisable after three years and remain exercisable until the tenth anniversary of the date of grant. All stock options granted under the Plan have an exercise price equal to or greater than the fair market value of the Company’s common stock on the grant date.

The table below presents the weighted average assumptions used with the Black-Scholes option-pricing model for the calculation of the fair value of stock options granted during the six months ended July 31, 2022 and July 31, 2021.


	Six Months Ended July 31, 2022			Six Months Ended July 31, 2021
Expected volatility		51.66	%		51.61	%
Expected life in years		6.0			6.0
Risk-free interest rates		2.57	%		0.89	%
Dividend rate		3.00	%		2.90	%
Weighted average fair value per option at date of grant	$	14.81		$	10.23

The fair value of the stock options, less expected forfeitures, is amortized on a straight-line basis over the vesting term. Total compensation expense for stock option grants recognized during the three months ended July 31, 2022 and 2021 was $0.6 million and $0.4 million, respectively. Total compensation expense for stock option grants recognized during the six months ended July 31, 2022 and 2021 was $1.1 million and $0.7 million, respectively. As of July 31, 2022, there was $3.9 million of unrecognized compensation cost related to unvested stock options. These costs are expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of 2.0 years. Total cash consideration received for stock option exercises during the six months ended July 31, 2022 and 2021 was $0.7 million and $0.6 million, respectively.

The following table summarizes the Company’s stock options activity during the first six months of fiscal 2023:


	Outstanding Options			Weighted Average Exercise Price per Option		Option Price Per Share		Weighted Average Remaining Contractual Term (years)		Aggregate Intrinsic Value $(000)
Options outstanding at January 31, 2022 (242,959 options exercisable)		982,834		$	21.69	$12.42-$42.12			7.5	$	15,441
Granted		162,053		$	38.04	$	38.04
Exercised		(26,228	)	$	27.41	$23.35-$30.36
Cancelled		—
Options outstanding at July 31, 2022		1,118,659		$	23.93	$12.42-$42.12			7.5	$	12,432
Exercisable at July 31, 2022		216,731		$	31.55				3.0	$	1,053
Expected to vest at July 31, 2022		854,087		$	21.73				8.5	$	11,036

The fair value of stock options exercised during the first six months of fiscal 2023 was $0.3 million and the intrinsic value was $0.3 million.

Under the Plan, the Company can also grant stock awards to employees and directors. For the three months ended July 31, 2022 and 2021, compensation expense for stock awards was $0.8 million and $0.9 million, respectively. For the six months ended July 31, 2022 and 2021, compensation expense for stock awards was $1.7 million and $2.1 million, respectively. As of July 31, 2022, there was $5.2 million of unrecognized compensation cost related to unvested stock awards. These costs are expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of 2.1 years.

The following table summarizes the Company’s stock awards activity during the first six months of fiscal 2023:


	Number of Stock Award Units			Weighted- Average Grant Date Fair Value		Weighted- Average Remaining Contractual Term (years)	Aggregate Intrinsic Value $(000's)
Units outstanding at January 31, 2022		296,283		$	26.39
Units granted		112,767		$	38.04
Units vested		(111,584	)	$	31.84
Units forfeited		(2,914	)	$	24.11
Units outstanding at July 31, 2022		294,552		$	28.81	2.2	$	10,009

Outstanding stock awards can be classified as either time-based stock awards or performance-based stock awards. Time-based stock awards vest over time subject to continued employment. Performance-based stock awards vest over time subject both to continued employment and to the achievement of corporate financial performance goals. Upon the vesting of a stock award, shares are issued from the pool of authorized shares. The number of shares issued related to the performance-based stock awards historically awarded by the Company have typically varied from 0% to 150% of the target number of underlying stock award units, depending on the extent of the achievement of predetermined financial goals. There were 28,405 and 54,720 shares of common stock of the Company tendered by the employee for the payment of the employee's withholding tax obligation totaling $1.1 million and $1.7 million for the six months ended July 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively. The total fair value of stock award units that vested during the first six months of fiscal 2023 was $3.6 million. The number of shares issued related to the remaining stock awards are established at grant date.