The Company has various stock option and stock-based incentive plans and various agreements whereby stock options, restricted stock awards, and stock appreciation rights ("SARs") are 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, 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. As of December 31, 2025, approximately 1.4 million common shares remain available for stock-based compensation grants.

Stock-based compensation expense was $19.1 million, $16.8 million and $19.4 million for the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024 and 2023, respectively. Income tax benefit for stock-based compensation expense was $4.7 million, $4.3 million and $4.8 million for the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024 and 2023, respectively. As of December 31, 2025, there was approximately $31.2 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 21.2 months.

On February 25, 2025, the Board approved the grant of 329,850 stock options at an exercise price per share of $92.72. The stock options vest pro-rata over four years from the grant date and have nine-year contractual terms. As of December 31, 2025, there was approximately $6.0 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 38.0 months. Outstanding stock options granted in prior years vest ratably over three years and have nine-year contractual terms.


	Years ended December 31,
	2025			2024			2023
($ and shares in thousands, except per share data)	Shares	Weighted Average Exercise Price		Shares	Weighted Average Exercise Price		Shares	Weighted Average Exercise Price
Total Options:
Outstanding beginning of year	28	$	27.55	171	$	27.55	543	$	29.17
Granted during the year	330	92.72		—	—		—	—
Forfeited during the year	(45)	92.72		—	—		—	—
Exercised during the year	—	—		(143)	27.55		(372)	29.92
Outstanding end of year	313	$	86.86	28	$	27.55	171	$	27.55

Vested Options:
Vested during the year	—	$	—	—	$	—	207	$	28.65
Eligible end of year for exercise	28	$	27.55	28	$	27.55	171	$	27.55

Aggregate intrinsic value:
Total options outstanding		$	6,748		$	1,562		$	6,711
Options exercisable		$	2,275		$	1,562		$	6,711
Options exercised		$	—		$	8,357		$	10,888

Weighted average fair value of options granted during the year		$	26.70		N/A			N/A

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 $108.43, $83.08 and $66.90 per share as of December 31, 2025, 2024 and 2023, respectively, is the price that would have been received by the option holders had those option holders exercised their options as of that date. As of December 31, 2025, the weighted average remaining contractual term for options outstanding was 7.7 years and the weighted average remaining contractual term for options exercisable was 3.4 years.

The cash received from the exercise of stock options was immaterial for 2024 and $1.4 million for 2023; no stock options were exercised in 2025. The income tax benefit related to the stock options exercised was immaterial for 2024 and 2023. The grant date fair value of stock options vested in 2023 was $5.9 million; no stock options vested in 2025 and 2024.

The Company estimates the fair value of the stock options as well as the SARs awards discussed below as of the grant date by applying the Black-Scholes option-pricing model. The following are the assumptions that were used in calculating the fair value of stock options and SARs granted during the first quarter of 2025:

On February 25, 2025, the Board approved the grant of 329,850 SARs divided into four tranches at exercise prices of $92.72, $110.76, $132.31 and $158.05 per share. The SARs vest pro-rata 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. As of December 31, 2025, there was approximately $4.2 million of unrecognized compensation expense related to the SARs, which is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average remaining life of approximately 38.0 months.


	Years ended December 31,
	2025			2024			2023
($ and shares in thousands, except per share data)	Shares	Weighted Average Exercise Price		Shares	Weighted Average Exercise Price		Shares	Weighted Average Exercise Price
Total SARs:
Outstanding beginning of year	—	$	—	336	$	42.89	336	$	42.89
Granted during the year	330	123.46		—	—		—	—
Forfeited during the year	(45)	123.46		—	—		—	—
Exercised during the year	—	—		(336)	42.89		—	—
Outstanding end of year	285	$	123.46	—	$	—	336	$	42.89

Vested SARs:
Vested during the year	—	$	—	—	$	—	—	$	—
Eligible end of year for exercise	—	$	—	—	$	—	336	$	42.89

Aggregate intrinsic value:
Total SARs outstanding		$	1,118		$	—		$	8,078
SARs exercisable		$	—		$	—		$	8,078
SARs exercised		$	—		$	10,802		$	—

Weighted average fair value of SARs granted during the year		$	18.78		N/A			N/A

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 $108.43, $83.08 and $66.90 per share as of December 31, 2025, 2024 and 2023, respectively, is the price that would have been received by the SARs holder had that SARs holder exercised the SARs as of that date.

The Company’s stock-based awards include restricted stock awards. As of December 31, 2025, there was approximately $21.0 million of total unrecognized compensation expense related to restricted stock, which is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average remaining life of approximately 17.4 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 year to seven years. The performance contingent shares are earned based on the achievement of a cumulative financial performance target, which ranges from one year to a seven-year period and vest at the conclusion of the measurement period.


	Year Ended December 31,
	2025			2024			2023
(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	989	$	51.94	1,020	$	45.65	1,138	$	42.92
Granted during the year	243	94.90		413	64.38		497	43.04
Vested during the year	(321)	48.45		(423)	48.26		(492)	37.76
Forfeited during the year	(97)	27.68		(21)	49.53		(123)	45.21
Unvested end of year	814	$	65.90	989	$	51.94	1,020	$	45.65