21.

Incentive Plans:

The Company accounts for equity awards in accordance with FASB’s Compensation – Stock Compensation guidance which requires that all share based payments to employees, including grants of employee stock options, restricted stock and performance shares, be recognized in the Statement of Income over the service period based on their fair values. Fair value is determined, depending on the type of award, using either the Black-Scholes option pricing formula or the Monte Carlo method for performance shares, both of which are intended to estimate the fair value of the awards at the grant date. Fair value of restricted shares is calculated based on the price on the date of grant.

The Company recognized expense associated with its equity awards of

$19.1

million,

$18.5

million and

$17.9

million, for the years ended

December

31,

2016,

2015

and

2014,

respectively. As of

December

31,

2016,

the Company had

$31.1

million of total unrecognized compensation cost related to unvested stock compensation granted under the Plans. That cost is expected to be recognized over a weighted average period of

3.3

years. The Company had

10,015,040,

9,095,416

and

9,251,021,

shares of the Company’s common stock available for issuance under the Plans at

December

31,

2016,

2015

and

2014,

respectively.

Stock Options

During

2016,

2015

and

2014,

the Company did

not

grant any stock options. Information with respect to stock options outstanding under the Plan for the years ended

December

31,

2016,

2015

and

2014

are as follows:

	Shares			Weighted-Average Exercise Price Per Share		Aggregate Intrinsic Value (in millions)
Options outstanding, January 1, 2014		15,374,145		$	28.79	$	13.1
Exercised		(1,474,432	)	$	16.19	$	9.4
Forfeited		(2,005,952	)	$	28.68
Options outstanding, December 31, 2014		11,893,761		$	30.23	$	29.8
Exercised		(1,019,240	)	$	18.36	$	7.4
Forfeited		(1,862,080	)	$	32.55
Options outstanding, December 31, 2015		9,012,441		$	31.09	$	27.4
Exercised		(1,167,819	)	$	18.03	$	12.4
Forfeited		(1,830,893	)	$	39.69
Options outstanding, December 31, 2016		6,013,729		$	32.09	$	12.1
Options exercisable (fully vested) -
December 31, 2014		10,159,570		$	31.96	$	19.9
December 31, 2015		7,617,882		$	32.90	$	20.0
December 31, 2016		5,144,416		$	32.56	$	11.3

The exercise prices for options outstanding as of

December

31,

2016,

range from

$11.54

$53.14

per share. The Company estimates forfeitures based on historical data. The weighted-average remaining contractual life for options outstanding as of

December

31,

2016

was

2.4

years. The weighted-average remaining contractual term of options currently exercisable as of

December

31,

2016,

was

2.3

years. The weighted-average remaining contractual term of options expected to vest as of

December

31,

2016,

was

6.2

years. As of

December

31,

2016,

the Company had

225,695

options expected to vest, with a weighted-average exercise price per share of

$21.54

and an aggregate intrinsic value of

$0.8

million. Cash received from options exercised under the Plan was

$21.1

million,

$18.7

million and

$23.9

million for the years ended

December

31,

2016,

2015

and

2014,

respectively.

Restricted Stock

Information with respect to restricted stock under the Plan for the years ended

December

31,

2016,

2015

and

2014

are as follows:

	201 6			201 5			2014
Restricted stock outstanding as of January 1,		1,712,534			1,911,145			1,591,082
Granted		756,530			729,160			804,465
Vested		(520,539	)		(875,202	)		(418,309	)
Forfeited		(17,793	)		(52,569	)		(66,093	)
Restricted stock outstanding as of December 31,		1,930,732			1,712,534			1,911,145

Restricted shares have the same voting rights as the Company’s common stock and are entitled to a cash dividend per share equal to the Company’s common dividend which is taxable as ordinary income to the holder. The dividends paid on restricted shares were

$2.2

million,

$1.8

million, and

$1.5

million for the years ended

December

31,

2016,

2015

and

2014,

respectively. The weighted-average grant date fair value for restricted stock issued during the years ended

December

31,

2016,

2015

and

2014

were

$26.15,

$25.98

and

$21.60,

respectively.

Performance Shares

As of

December

31,

2016,

2015

and

2014,

the Company had performance share awards outstanding of

197,249,

202,754

and

171,400,

respectively. The weighted-average grant date fair value for performance shares issued during the years ended

December

31,

2016,

2015

and

2014

were

$28.60,

$27.87

and

$22.65,

respectively. The more significant assumptions underlying the determination of fair values for these awards granted during

2016,

2015

and

2014

were as follows:

	201 6			201 5				201 4
Stock price	$	26.29		$		26.83		$			21.49
Dividend yield (1)		0	%			0	%				0	%
Risk-free rate		0.87	%			0.98	%				0.65	%
Volatility		18.80	%			16.81	%				25.93	%
Term of the award (years)		2.88			1.88,	2.88			0.88,	1.88,	2.88

(1)

Total Shareholder Returns, as used in the performance share awards computation, are measured based on cumulative dividend stock prices, as such a

zero

percent dividend yield is utilized.

Other

The Company maintains a

401(k)

retirement plan covering substantially all officers and employees, which permits participants to defer up to the maximum allowable amount determined by the Internal Revenue Service of their eligible compensation. This deferred compensation, together with Company matching contributions, which generally equal employee deferrals up to a maximum of

of their eligible compensation, is fully vested and funded as of

December

31,

2016.

The Company’s contributions to the plan were

$2.0

million,

$2.1

million and

$2.2

million for the years ended

December

31,

2016,

2015

and

2014,

respectively.

The Company recognized severance costs associated with employee terminations during the years ended

December

31,

2016,

2015

and

2014,

$1.7

million,

$4.8

million and

$6.3

million, respectively.