Stock-Based Compensation

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2017

Disclosure Of Compensation Related Costs Sharebased Payments [Abstract]

Stock-Based Compensation

5. STOCK-BASED COMPENSATION

On March 31, 2017, the Company had 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 granted prior to 2015 are cash-settled, and SARs granted after 2014, including the 2017 grant, are stock-settled.  Stock options and SARs granted prior to 2017 generally cliff vested after two years. Stock options and SARs granted in 2017 have a three-year graded vesting feature, with one-third of the awards vesting each year. The Company has elected the straight-line method of expense attribution for the stock options and SARs with the graded vesting feature.

Compensation expense recorded for all stock options, stock awards and SARs was as follows:

(In thousands)
Three Months Ended March 31
2017		2016
$	1,385	$	2,423

The year-over-year decline in stock-based compensation expense was primarily attributable to cash-settled SARs. SARs compensation expense decreased due to a decline in the fair values of cash-settled SARs that resulted from a decrease in the market value of Company common stock during the first quarter of 2017. The market value of Company common stock increased during the first quarter of 2016.

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

(In thousands)	March 31, 2017		December 31, 2016
Stock options	$	2,163	$	895
Stock awards		7,569		5,514
SARs		4,495		1,859

The increases in unrecognized compensation costs for stock options, stock awards and SARs reflected the 2017 grants of:

	Shares
Stock options		71,434
Stock awards (at target)		44,599
SARs		148,723

The unrecognized compensation costs at March 31, 2017, are expected to be recognized over weighted-average periods of 2.3 years, 2.0 years and 2.3 years for stock options, stock awards and SARs, respectively.