On March 31, 2019, the Company had 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 are stock-settled. Stock options and SARs granted prior to 2017 generally cliff vested after two years. Starting in 2017, stock options and SARs 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:

The quarter-over-quarter increase in stock-based compensation expense was primarily attributable to cash-settled SARs. The quarterly increase in cash-settled SARs compensation expense reflects a larger rise in the market value of Company stock during the first quarter of 2019 versus the first quarter of 2018. This increase was partially offset by a quarter-over-quarter decrease in stock-based compensation expense related to performance stock awards.

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

(In thousands)	March 31, 2019		December 31, 2018
Stock options	$	2,935	$	1,655
Stock awards		5,712		3,180
SARs		6,260		3,566

The increases in unrecognized compensation costs for stock options, stock awards and SARs reflected the 2019 grants of:

	Shares
Stock options		67,628
Stock awards (at target)		41,528
SARs		146,613

The unrecognized compensation costs at March 31, 2019, are expected to be recognized over weighted-average periods of 2.2 years for stock options, stock awards and SARs.

(In thousands)

Three Months Ended

March 31