The Company has various stock option and stock-based incentive plans and various agreements whereby stock options, restricted stock awards, and SARS were made available to certain key employees, directors, and others based upon meeting various individual, divisional or company-wide performance criteria and time-based criteria. All such awards qualify and are accounted for as equity awards. Equity incentive plan awards, which are granted under

the Company's 2009 Omnibus Incentive Plan (the "2009 Plan"), are intended to retain and reward key employees for outstanding performance and efforts as they relate to the Company’s short-term and long-term objectives and its strategic plan.

The Company recorded compensation expense of $15.4 million, $14.0 million and $10.4 million for the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017, respectively, on the consolidated statements of income for its stock-based compensation plans. As of December 31, 2019, there was approximately $19.8 million of total unrecognized compensation cost related to share-based compensation arrangements granted under incentive plans. That cost is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of approximately 15 months.

On January 17, 2017, the Company’s Compensation Committee of the Board (the "Compensation Committee") approved the grant of 340,110 stock options under the 2009 Plan at an exercise price per share of $53.83. The stock options vest pro-rata over four years, commencing on January 17, 2018, and have nine-year contractual terms. There were no stock options granted in 2018 and 2019.

The following table summarizes the Company’s option activity during the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017:



Years ended December 31	2019				2018				2017
(shares in thousands)	Shares		Weighted Average Exercise Price		Shares		Weighted Average Exercise Price		Shares		Weighted Average Exercise Price

Outstanding beginning of year	545		$	44.35	548		$	44.07	288		$	23.59
Granted during the year	—		—		—		—		340		53.83
Forfeited during the year	—		—		—		—		—		—
Exercised during the year	(9	)	0.67		(3	)	0.78		(80	)	11.62
Outstanding end of year	536		$	45.11	545		$	44.35	548		$	44.07

Vested Options:
Vested during the year	115		$	50.46	115		$	50.46	30		$	40.95
Eligible end of year for exercise	336		$	41.07	230		$	34.72	118		$	18.36

Aggregate intrinsic value ($ in thousands):
Total options outstanding			$	4,398			$	1,570			$	13,932
Options exercisable			$	4,051			$	1,570			$	6,037
Options exercised			$	381			$	195			$	2,601

Weighted average fair value of options granted during the year			N/A				N/A				$	17.76

The aggregate intrinsic value (excess of market value over the option exercise price) in the table above is before income taxes, and assuming the Company’s closing stock price of $52.43, $29.61 and $69.45 per share as of December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017, respectively, is the price that would have been received by the option holders had those option holders exercised their options as of that date.

The cash received from the exercise of stock options was immaterial in 2019 and 2018, and approximately $0.9 million in 2017. The income tax benefit related to the stock options exercised in 2019 and 2018 was immaterial and



(shares in thousands)	Options Outstanding				Options Exercisable
	Shares Outstanding	Remaining Contractual Life (years)	Exercise Price		Shares Exercisable	Exercise Price
2013 Grant:
Exercise price - $12.30	75	3.0	$	12.30	75	$	12.30
2016 Grant:
Exercise price - $40.95	121	5.8	$	40.95	91	$	40.95
2017 Grant:
Exercise price - $53.83	340	6.0	$	53.83	170	$	53.83

The following table presents assumptions used in the Black-Scholes model for the stock options granted in 2017. There were no stock options granted in 2019 and 2018.



	2017
Dividend rate	—
Risk-free interest rate	2.00	%
Expected option life (years)	5.75
Price volatility	30.84	%

As of December 31, 2019, there was approximately $1.9 million of total unrecognized compensation expense related to the stock options, which is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average remaining life of approximately 12.2 months.

On January 17, 2017, the Compensation Committee approved the grant of 340,128 SARS under the 2009 Plan divided into four tranches of 85,032 shares each, at strike prices of $53.83, $60.03, $66.93 and $74.63 per share. The SARS vest pro-ratably over four years from the grant date and have nine-year contractual terms. The SARS are to be settled in shares of common stock, or at the sole discretion of the Board in cash. The grant date fair value of these awards totaled $5.0 million and this amount is being amortized over the four-year vesting period. There were no SARS granted in 2018 and 2019.



Years ended December 31	2019			2018			2017
(shares in thousands)	Shares	Weighted Average Exercise Price		Shares	Weighted Average Exercise Price		Shares		Weighted Average Exercise Price
Total SARS:
Outstanding beginning of year	535	$	54.53	535	$	54.53	270		$	32.29
Granted during the year	—	—		—	—		340		63.85
Forfeited during the year	—	—		—	—		—		—
Exercised during the year	—	—		—	—		(75	)	16.50
Outstanding end of year	535	$	54.53	535	$	54.53	535		$	54.53

Vested SARS:
Vested during the year	115	$	60.71	115	$	60.71	30		$	51.87
Eligible end of year for exercise	336	$	50.04	220	$	44.46	105		$	26.66


Aggregate intrinsic value ($ in thousands):
Total SARS outstanding		$	3,190		$	983			$	8,458
SARS exercisable		$	3,066		$	983			$	4,521
SARS exercised		$	—		$	—			$	3,822

Weighted average fair value of SARS granted during the year		N/A			N/A				$	14.66

The aggregate intrinsic value (excess of market value over the SARS exercise price) in the table above is before income taxes, and assuming the Company’s closing stock price of $52.43, $29.61 and $69.45 per share as of December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017, respectively, is the price that would have been received by the SARS holder had that SARS holder exercised the SARS as of that date.



	SARS Outstanding				SARS Exercisable
(shares in thousands)	Shares Outstanding	Remaining Contractual Life (years)	Exercise Price		Shares Exercisable	Exercise Price
2013 Grant:
Exercise price - $12.30	18	3.0	$	12.30	18	$	12.30
Exercise price - $14.75	19	3.0	14.75		19	14.75
Exercise price - $17.71	19	3.0	17.71		19	17.71
Exercise price - $21.25	19	3.0	21.25		19	21.25
2016 Grant:
Exercise price - $40.95	30	5.8	$	40.95	22	$	40.95
Exercise price - $47.51	30	5.8	47.51		23	47.51
Exercise price - $55.11	30	5.8	55.11		22	55.11
Exercise price - $63.93	30	5.8	63.93		23	63.93
2017 Grant:
Exercise price - $53.83	85	6.0	$	53.83	42	$	53.83
Exercise price - $60.03	85	6.0	60.03		43	60.03
Exercise price - $66.93	85	6.0	66.93		42	66.93
Exercise price - $74.63	85	6.0	74.63		43	74.63

As of December 31, 2019, there was approximately $1.6 million of total unrecognized compensation expense related to the SARS which is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average remaining life of approximately 12.3 months.

The Company’s stock-based awards include restricted stock awards. As of December 31, 2019, there was approximately $16.3 million of total unrecognized compensation expense related to restricted stock, which is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average remaining life of approximately 15.7 months.

Restricted stock awards possess voting rights, are included in the calculation of actual shares outstanding, and include both performance- and time-based contingencies. The grant date fair value of the awards is expensed over the related service or performance period. Time-based shares cliff vest at the conclusion of the required service period, which ranges from one to three years. The performance contingent shares are earned based on the achievement of a cumulative financial performance target, which ranges from a one to five-year period and vest at the conclusion of the measurement period.



	2019				2018				2017
(shares in thousands)	Shares		Weighted-Average Grant Date Stock Price		Shares		Weighted-Average Grant Date Stock Price		Shares		Weighted-Average Grant Date Stock Price
Unvested beginning of year	606		$	48.56	634		$	35.68	644		$	22.15
Granted during the year	378		39.74		182		65.35		233		54.46
Vested during the year	(230	)	30.46		(209	)	23.98		(240	)	17.49
Forfeited during the year	(16	)	50.49		(1	)	57.93		(3	)	46.64
	738		$	49.65	606		$	48.56	634		$	35.68