STOCK BASED AND DEFERRED COMPENSATION (Tables)

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2020

Share-based Payment Arrangement [Abstract]

Summary of Compensation Expense and Stock Award Activity

Below is a summary of compensation expense and stock award activity (dollars in thousands):

	Three Months Ended March 31,
	2020		2019
Stock-based compensation expense	$	6,437	$	5,861
Non-vested shares granted	223,481		377,514
Performance-based non-vested shares granted	56,139		94,152
Performance-based shares issued in excess of target shares granted (1)	24,054		21,039
Restricted stock awards vested (includes performance-based awards)	398,346		400,323

(1)Performance-based shares that vested and were issued as a result of performance achievement exceeding the originally established targeted number of shares related to respective performance metrics.

Summary of Additional Information Regarding Stock Plan

The following table includes additional information regarding our Stock Plans (dollars in thousands):

	As of
	March 31, 2020		December 31, 2019
Unrecognized stock-based compensation cost	$	31,486	$	22,341
Weighted average years expense recognition period	2.74		1.70
Total equity awards outstanding (1)	1,129,789		1,240,529

(1)Includes unvested restricted stock, performance-based awards (assuming 100% payout) and restricted stock units.