Derivative Instruments

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2021

Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities Disclosure [Abstract]

The Company periodically holds interest rate derivative instruments to mitigate exposure to changes in interest rates, to predominantly one-month LIBOR, with $590.0 million and $783.1 million of variable rate borrowings at December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively. As a matter of policy, management does not use derivatives for speculative purposes. As of December 31, 2021, the Company has five interest rate swap agreements. During the first quarter of 2021, the Company entered into four fixed-rate interest swap agreements, each having notional amounts of $100.0 million, two with remaining terms of 25 months and two with remaining terms of 49 months as of December 31, 2021. One interest rate swap agreement was entered into during 2019 which has a notional outstanding amount of $100.0 million with a remaining term of 30 months as of December 31, 2021. One interest rate swap agreement which the Company entered into in 2016 expired in April 2021. The derivative instruments were designated as cash flow hedges at inception and recorded at fair value.

The Company evaluated the effectiveness of the swaps to hedge the interest rate risk associated with its variable rate debt and concluded at the swap inception date that the swaps were highly effective in hedging that risk. The Company evaluates the effectiveness of the hedging relationship on an ongoing basis and concluded there was no ineffectiveness in the hedges for the year ended December 31, 2021.

The Company estimates the fair value of derivative instruments using a discounted cash flow technique and has used creditworthiness inputs that corroborate observable market data evaluating the Company’s and counterparties’ risk of non-performance. Valuation of the derivative instruments requires certain assumptions for underlying variables and the use of different assumptions would result in a different valuation. Management believes it has applied assumptions consistently during the period. The Company applies hedge accounting and accounts for the change in fair value of its cash flow hedges through other comprehensive income for all derivative instruments.

The net fair value of the swaps as of December 31, 2021 was $7.3 million, representing an asset of $8.0 million and a liability of $0.7 million. The net fair value of the interest rate swaps as of December 31, 2020 was $4.0 million, representing a liability. The Company recorded interest expense of $2.4 million and $2.0 million during the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively, from derivative investments. As of December 31, 2021 the accumulative derivative gain was $7.3 million and as of December 31, 2020 the accumulative derivative loss was $3.8 million.

Effect of Derivative Instruments on Earnings in the Statements of Income and of Comprehensive Income

The following table provides additional information about the financial statement effects related to the cash flow hedges for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020:


Derivatives in Cash Flow Hedging Relationships	Amount of Gain (Loss) Recognized in OCI on Derivatives (Effective Portion)
	Years Ended December 31,
	2021		2020
	(in thousands)
Interest rate contracts	$	11,250	$	(2,298)
Total	$	11,250	$	(2,298)

The effective portion of the change in fair value on a derivative instrument designated as a cash flow hedge is reported as a component of other comprehensive income and is reclassified into earnings in the period during which the transaction being hedged affects earnings or it is probable that the forecasted transaction will not occur. The ineffective portion of the hedges, if any, is recorded in earnings in the current period. There was no ineffectiveness in the hedges for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020.

Counterparty Credit Risk

The Company evaluates the creditworthiness of the counterparties under its hedging agreements. The counterparties for the interest rate swaps are large financial institutions that possessed an investment grade credit rating. Based on this rating, the Company believes that the counterparties were credit-worthy and that their continuing performance under the hedging agreement was probable and did not require the counterparties to provide collateral or other security to the Company.