Share-based Compensation

The Company has two share-based compensation plans, the 2014 Long Term Incentive Plan (the "2014 Plan") and the Amended and Restated 2005 Long Term Incentive Plan (the “2005 Plan”).

The 2014 Plan provides for broad-based equity grants to employees, including executive officers, and members of the board of directors and permits the granting of restricted shares, restricted stock units, performance awards, stock appreciation rights and other stock-based awards. The maximum number of shares that may be issued under the 2014 Plan is 1.5 million shares and, as of February 28, 2019, the Company had approximately 1.2 million shares reserved for future issuance under this plan.

The 2005 Plan permitted the granting of stock appreciation rights and other equity-based awards to certain employees. This plan was terminated upon the effective date of the 2014 Plan and no future grants may be made under the 2005 Plan. However, there were stock appreciation rights that were granted under the 2005 Plan prior to its termination that remain outstanding, and if exercised, such awards will be settled from the balance of shares available for issuance under the 2005 Plan. As of February 28, 2019, there were 0.1 million shares available for issuance under the 2005 Plan. The 2005 Plan will be formally retired when all remaining outstanding stock appreciation rights are exercised, forfeited or expire. All outstanding stock appreciation rights will expire on or before March 1, 2021.

Restricted Stock Unit Awards

Restricted stock unit awards are valued at the market price of the Company's common stock on the grant date. Awards issued prior to fiscal 2015 generally have a three year cliff vesting schedule and awards issued subsequent to fiscal 2015 generally vest ratably over a period of three years but these awards may vest early in accordance with the Plan’s accelerated vesting provisions.

The activity for non-vested restricted stock unit awards for the year ended February 28, 2019 is as follows:



	Restricted Stock Units		Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value
Non-Vested Balance as of February 28, 2018	109,777		$	56.62
Granted	84,895		42.05
Vested	(38,733	)	54.53
Forfeited	(9,407	)	53.46
Non-Vested Balance as of February 28, 2019	146,532		$	48.93

The total fair value of restricted stock units vested during fiscal years 2019, 2018, and 2017 was $2.1 million, $3.0 million and $1.6 million, respectively. For fiscal years 2019, 2018 and 2017, there were 146,532, 109,777 and 134,547, respectively, of non-vested restricted stock units outstanding with weighted average grant date fair values of $48.93, $56.62 and $51.10, respectively.

Performance Share Unit Awards

The Company also grants performance share unit awards to certain employees. These awards have a three year performance vesting cycle and may vest in varying amounts contingent on whether various performance and market conditions are satisfied. Specifically, the vesting of these awards is subject to the Company’s degree of achievement of a target annual average adjusted return on assets and total shareholder return, both of which may be relative to the performance of a defined industry peer group. The Company estimates the grant date fair value of these awards using a Monte Carlo simulation.

The activity in our non-vested performance stock unit awards for the year ended February 28, 2019 is as follows:



	Performance Stock Units		Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value
Non-Vested Balance as of February 28, 2018	70,030		$	54.59
Granted	46,183		42.00
Vested	(3,378	)	46.65
Forfeited	(29,710	)	49.51
Non-Vested Balance as of February 28, 2019	83,125		$	49.74

Stock Appreciation Rights

Stock appreciation rights awards ("SARs") are granted with an exercise price equal to the market value of the Company's common stock on the date of grant. These awards generally have a contractual term of 7 years and vest ratably over a period of 3 years although some may vest immediately on issuance. These awards are valued using the Black-Scholes option pricing model. The Company did not grant any SARs in fiscal year 2019, 2018 or 2017.

A summary of the Company’s stock appreciation rights awards activity is as follows:



	Year Ended
	February 28, 2019				February 28, 2018				February 28, 2017
	SARs		Weighted Average Exercise Price		SARs		Weighted Average Exercise Price		SARs		Weighted Average Exercise Price
Outstanding at beginning of year	148,513		$	43.29	170,139		$	42.02	312,748		$	34.23
Granted	—		—		—		—		—		—
Exercised	(47,484	)	40.84		(19,481	)	31.94		(141,983	)	24.85
Forfeited	(2,845	)	43.92		(2,145	)	45.36		(626	)	43.92
Outstanding at end of year	98,184		$	44.46	148,513		$	43.29	170,139		$	42.02
Exercisable at end of year	98,184		$	44.46	148,513		$	43.29	126,975		$	41.27

The average remaining contractual term for both outstanding and exercisable stock appreciation rights as of February 28, 2019 was 1.84 years, with an aggregate intrinsic value of $0.2 million.

The following table summarizes additional information about stock appreciation rights outstanding at February 28, 2019.



Range of Exercise Prices	Total SARs	Average Remaining Life	Weighted Average Exercise Price		SARs Currently Exercisable	Weighted Average Exercise Price
$39.65	950	1.52	$	39.65	950	$	39.65
$43.92	54,510	2.01	$	43.92	54,510	$	43.92
$45.26	40,000	1.68	$	45.26	40,000	$	45.26
$45.36	2,724	1.00	$	45.36	2,724	$	45.36
$39.65 - $45.36	98,184	1.84	$	44.46	98,184	$	44.46

Directors Grants

The Company granted each of its independent directors a total of 1,823, 2,040 and 1,641 shares of its common stock during fiscal years 2019, 2018 and 2017, respectively. These common stock grants were valued at $54.85, $49.00 and $60.94 per share for fiscal years 2019, 2018 and 2017, respectively, which was the market price of the Company's common stock on the respective grant dates.

Employee Stock Purchase Plan

The Company also has an employee stock purchase plan, which allows employees of the Company to purchase common stock of the Company through accumulated payroll deductions. Offerings under this plan have a duration of 24 months (the "offering period"). On the first day of an offering period (the “enrollment date”) the participant is granted the option to purchase shares on each exercise date at the lower of 85% of the market value of a share of our common stock on the enrollment date or the exercise date. The participant’s right to purchase common stock under the plan is restricted to no more than $25,000 per calendar year and the participant may not purchase more than 5,000 shares during any offering period. Participants may terminate their interest in a given offering or a given exercise period by withdrawing all of their accumulated payroll deductions at any time prior to the end of the offering period.

Share-based compensation expense and related income tax benefits related to all the plans listed above were as follows (in thousands):



	Year Ended
	February 28, 2019		February 28, 2018		February 28, 2017
Compensation expense	$	4,659	$	6,121	$	5,870
Income tax benefits	$	978	$	2,122	$	2,055

Unrecognized compensation cost related to all the above at February 28, 2019 totaled $6.1 million. These costs are expected to be recognized over a weighted period of 1.71 years.

The actual tax benefit realized for tax deductions from share-based compensation during each of these fiscal years totaled $(0.3) million, $0.2 million and $1.5 million, respectively.

The Company’s policy is to issue shares required under these plans from the Company’s authorized but unissued shares. The Company has no formal or informal plan to repurchase shares on the open market to satisfy these requirements.