Note 11 - Stock Compensation

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2014

Disclosure of Compensation Related Costs, Share-based Payments [Abstract]

Disclosure of Compensation Related Costs, Share-based Payments [Text Block]

11. Stock Compensation

The Company recognizes compensation expense for all share-based payment awards made to employees and directors based on their estimated fair values.  Share-based compensation expense included in selling and administrative expenses approximated $0.1 million and $0.3 million for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2014 and 2013, respectively.

	Three Months Ended September 30,				Nine Months Ended September 30,
(In Thousands)(	2014		2013		2014		2013
Share based compensation expense	$	93	$	125	$	292	$	345

Long-Term Incentive Plan

The Company’s 2010 Long-Term Incentive Plan (“2010 Plan”) provides the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors with the discretion to grant stock options, stock appreciation rights, restricted shares, restricted stock units, performance shares, or performance units.  Vesting terms vary with each grant and may be subject to vesting upon a “change in control” of the Company. On May 14, 2014, the Company’s stockholders approved an amendment to the 2010 Plan to increase the number of shares of common stock that are available for issuance under the Plan from 600,000 to 1,600,000 shares.

Options

The following table summarizes the Company’s activities with respect to its stock options for the nine months ended September 30, 2014 as follows: 

	Number of Options			Weighted Average Exercise Price Per Share		Weighted Average Remaining Contractual Term		Aggregate Intrinsic Value (in thousands)
Outstanding at December 31, 2013		213,700		$	5.42		7.84	$	26
Granted		—			—
Exercised		—			—
Forfeited		(15,000	)		4.70
Outstanding at September 30, 2014		198,700		$	5.47		7.09	$	20
Exercisable at September 30, 2014		127,000		$	6.06		6.85	$	7

The aggregate intrinsic value in the table above represents the total that would have been received by the option holders if all in-the-money options had been exercised and sold on September 30, 2014.

As of September 30, 2014, the total unrecognized compensation cost related to stock option awards was approximately $0.1 million which is expected to be recognized over a weighted average period of 1.3 years.

The following table summarizes information about stock options outstanding and exercisable at September 30, 2014:

			Options Outstanding at September 30, 2014						Options Exercisable at September 30, 2014
Range of option exercise price			Number of options		Weighted average remaining contractual life		Weighted average exercise price per option		Number of options		Weighted average remaining contractual life		Weighted average exercise price per option
$3.55	to	8.32		198,700		7.09	$	5.47		127,000		6.85	$	6.06

Restricted Stock Plans

The Ballantyne Strong, Inc. 2014 Non-Employee Directors’ Restricted Stock Plan (the “Non-Employee Plan”) provides for the award of restricted shares to outside directors. A total of 200,000 shares are reserved for issuance under the Non-Employee Plan. During the nine months ended September 30, 2014, the Company granted 41,760 restricted shares under the Non-Employee Plan to the Board of Directors. These shares will vest the day preceding the Company’s 2015 Annual Meeting of Stockholders.

In connection with the restricted stock granted to certain employees and non-employee directors, the Company accrues compensation expense based on the estimated number of shares expected to be issued utilizing the most current information available to the Company at the date of the financial statements. The Company estimates the fair value of restricted stock awards based upon the market price of the underlying common stock on the date of grant. During the three and nine month periods ended September 30, 2014, the Company awarded 240,000 shares under the 2010 Plan.

As of September 30, 2014, the total unrecognized compensation cost related to non-vested restricted stock awards was approximately $0.9 million which is expected to be recognized over a weighted average period of 3.1 years.

The following table summarizes restricted stock activity for the nine months ended September 30, 2014:

	Number of Restricted Stock Shares			Weighted Average Grant Price Fair Value
Non-vested at December 31, 2013		129,500		$	4.42
Granted		281,760			3.83
Shares vested		(68,167	)		4.54
Shares forfeited		(10,800	)		4.39
Non-vested at September 30, 2014		332,293		$	3.90