Stock-Based Compensation

The Company has granted restricted stock to employees and directors pursuant to the Continental Resources, Inc. 2013 Long-Term Incentive Plan ("2013 Plan") as discussed below. The Company’s associated compensation expense, which is included in the caption “General and administrative expenses” in the unaudited condensed consolidated statements of comprehensive income, was $10.9 million and $11.4 million for the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively.

In May 2013, the Company adopted the 2013 Plan and reserved 19,680,072 shares of common stock that may be issued pursuant to the plan. As of March 31, 2018, the Company had 13,701,105 shares of common stock available for long-term incentive awards to employees and directors under the 2013 Plan.

Restricted stock is awarded in the name of the recipient and constitutes issued and outstanding shares of the Company’s common stock for all corporate purposes during the period of restriction and, except as otherwise provided under the 2013 Plan or agreement relevant to a given award, includes the right to vote the restricted stock and to receive dividends, subject to forfeiture. Restricted stock grants generally vest over periods ranging from one to three years.

A summary of changes in non-vested restricted shares outstanding for the three months ended March 31, 2018 is presented below.



	Number of non-vested shares		Weighted average grant-date fair value
Non-vested restricted shares outstanding at December 31, 2017	4,026,110		$	35.63
Granted	1,180,032		51.42
Vested	(975,625	)	47.32
Forfeited	(66,489	)	34.53
Non-vested restricted shares outstanding at March 31, 2018	4,164,028		$	37.38

The grant date fair value of restricted stock represents the closing market price of the Company’s common stock on the date of grant. Compensation expense for a restricted stock grant is determined at the grant date fair value and is recognized over the vesting period as services are rendered by employees and directors. The Company estimates the number of forfeitures expected to occur in determining the amount of stock-based compensation expense to recognize. There are no post-vesting restrictions related to the Company’s restricted stock. The fair value at the vesting date of restricted stock that vested during the three months ended March 31, 2018 was approximately $52.5 million. As of March 31, 2018, there was approximately $104 million of unrecognized compensation expense related to non-vested restricted stock. This expense is expected to be recognized over a weighted average period of 1.7 years.