SHARE-BASED COMPENSATION

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2020

Share-based Payment Arrangement [Abstract]

Share-based awards are provided to officers, non-officer employees, and trustees under our 2015 Incentive Plan approved by shareholders on September 15, 2015, as amended and restated on May 19, 2020 (the "2015 Incentive Plan") which allows for awards in the form of cash, unrestricted and restricted common shares, stock options, stock appreciation rights, and RSUs up to an aggregate of 425,000 shares over the ten-year period in which the plan is in effect. Under our 2015 Incentive Plan, officers and non-officer employees may earn share awards under a long-term incentive plan, which is a forward-looking program that measures long-term performance over the stated performance period. These awards are payable to the extent deemed earned in shares. The terms of the long-term incentive awards granted under the revised program may vary from year to year.

2020 LTIP Awards

Awards granted to officers on March 13, 2020, consist of an aggregate of 8,806 time-based RSU awards. All of these awards are classified as equity awards. The time-based RSU awards vest as to one-third of the shares on each of March 13, 2021, March 13, 2022, and March 13, 2023.

Awards granted to officers on May 21, 2020, consist of an aggregate of 141,000 stock options, which vest as to 25% on each of May 21, 2021, January 1, 2022, January 1, 2023, and January 1, 2024. The fair value of stock options was $7.255 per share and was estimated on the date of grant using the Black-Scholes option pricing model with the following assumptions:


	2020
Exercise price	$	66.36
Risk-free rate	0.978		%
Expected term	6.25 years
Expected volatility	21.08		%
Dividend yield	3.974		%

Awards granted to trustees on May 19, 2020, consist of 8,272 time-based RSUs, which vest on May 19, 2021. These awards are classified as equity awards.

Awards granted to employees on August 12, 2020, consist of 480 time-based RSUs, which vest on August 12, 2021. These awards are classified as equity awards.

Share-Based Compensation Expense

Share-based compensation expense recognized in the consolidated financial statements for all outstanding share-based awards was $1.5 million and $1.5 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2020 and 2019, respectively.