Stock-Based Compensation

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2012

Stock-Based Compensation [Abstract]

STOCK-BASED COMPENSATION

5. STOCK-BASED COMPENSATION

On September 30, 2012, the Company had stock options outstanding under its 2000 Stock Option Plan, stock options and stock awards outstanding under its 2006 Incentive Compensation Plan and stock options, stock awards and stock appreciation rights (SARs) outstanding under its 2011 Incentive Compensation Plan. SARs, which were granted for the first time in 2012, cliff vest after two years of continuous service, settle in cash and expire ten years from the grant date. Because SARs are cash-settled, they are accounted for as liabilities that must be re-measured at fair value at the end of every reporting period until settlement. The Company uses the Black-Scholes option pricing model for determining the fair value of SARs. Compensation expense for each reporting period is based on the period-to-period change (or portion of the change, depending on the proportion of the vesting period that has been completed at the reporting date) in the fair value of the SARs.

Compensation (income)/expense recorded for all stock options, stock awards and SARs was as follows:

(In thousands)
Three Months Ended September  30					Nine Months Ended September  30
2012			2011		2012		2011
$	(842	)	$	929	$	749	$	2,707

The decrease in compensation expense resulted primarily from management’s 2012 third quarter assessment that the profitability targets for the performance stock awards that vest on December 31, 2012, would not be achieved. Consequently, previously accrued compensation expense for those awards was reversed.

Unrecognized compensation costs for stock options, stock awards and SARs were as follows:

(In thousands)	September 30, 2012		December 31, 2011
Stock options	$	946	$	974
Stock awards		2,374		2,109
SARs		785		—

The unrecognized compensation costs at September 30, 2012, are expected to be recognized over weighted-average periods of 1.1 years, 2.1 years and 1.4 years for stock options, stock awards and SARs, respectively.