Stock-Based Compensation

In July 2011, a Special Meeting of Stockholders of Heartland Express, Inc. was held, at which meeting the approval of the Heartland Express, Inc. 2011 Restricted Stock Award Plan (the “Plan”) was ratified. The Plan is administered by the Compensation Committee of our Board of Directors. Per the terms of the awards, employees receiving awards will have all of the rights of a stockholder with respect to the unvested restricted shares including, but not limited to, the right to receive such cash dividends, if any, as may be declared on such shares from time to time and the right to vote such shares at any meeting of our stockholders.

The Plan made available up to 0.9 million shares for the purpose of making restricted stock grants to our eligible officers and employees. Shares granted in 2013 through 2017 have various vesting terms that range from immediate to four years from the date of grant. Once vested, there are no other restrictions on the awards. Compensation expense associated with these awards is based on the market value of our stock on the grant date. Our market closing price ranged between $13.86 and $18.18 on the various grant dates for the shares granted in 2013. The Company's market close price ranged between $21.72 and $27.47 on the various grant dates during 2014, ranged between $19.93 and $27.29 on the various grant dates during 2015, ranged between $17.06 and $18.78 on the various grant dates during 2016, and ranged between $20.53 and $23.37 on the various grant dates during 2017. There were no significant assumptions made in determining the fair value. Compensation expense associated with restricted stock awards is included in salaries, wages and benefits in the consolidated statements of comprehensive income. Compensation expense associated with restricted stock awards was $0.5 million, $1.3 million, and $1.2 million for the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016, and 2015, respectively. Unrecognized compensation expense was $0.6 million at December 31, 2017 which will be recognized over a weighted average period of 1.2 years.

The following table summarizes our restricted stock award activity for the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015. The vesting dates for the awards vested in 2017 occurred relatively evenly throughout the first half of the year ended December 31, 2017. The fair value of awards vested during 2017, 2016 and 2015 was $0.6 million, $2.0 million and $1.6 million, respectively.



	2017
	Number of Restricted Stock Awards (in thousands)		Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value
Unvested at beginning of year	53.0		$	21.53
Granted	27.0		22.98
Vested	(25.3	)	22.07
Forfeited	(1.0	)	17.11
Outstanding (unvested) at end of year	53.7		$	21.82



	2016
	Number of Restricted Stock Awards (in thousands)		Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value
Unvested at beginning of year	102.4		$	18.36
Granted	74.0		17.27
Vested	(122.2	)	16.21
Forfeited	(1.2	)	22.21
Outstanding (unvested) at end of year	53.0		$	21.53



	2015
	Number of Restricted Stock Awards (in thousands)		Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value
Unvested at beginning of year	183.1		$	16.78
Granted	17.9		20.92
Vested	(98.6	)	16.49
Forfeited	—		—
Outstanding (unvested) at end of year	102.4		$	18.36