Stock-Based Compensation

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2017

Disclosure Of Compensation Related Costs Sharebased Payments [Abstract]

5.	STOCK-BASED COMPENSATION

On June 30, 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 cliff vest 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 June 30				Six Months Ended June 30
2017		2016		2017		2016
$	3,166	$	2,025	$	4,551	$	4,448

The increase in stock-based compensation expense between the three-month periods ended June 30, 2017 and 2016, was primarily attributable to increased compensation related to cash-settled SARs. SARs compensation expense in the second quarter of 2017 was higher than in the second quarter of 2016 due to a greater quarter-over-quarter increase in the market value of Company common stock, which is used to calculate the fair value of SARs.

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

(In thousands)	June 30, 2017		December 31, 2016
Stock options	$	1,854	$	895
Stock awards		6,419		5,514
SARs		3,853		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 June 30, 2017, are expected to be recognized over weighted-average periods of 2.1 years, 1.8 years and 2.2 years for stock options, stock awards and SARs, respectively.