SHARE-BASED COMPENSATION

9 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2022

12.	SHARE-BASED COMPENSATION

SHARE-BASED PLANS

As of December 31, 2022, we had share-based awards outstanding under the following plans: (1) the 2017 Non-Employee Director Long-Term Incentive Plan (“2017 Director LTIP”), (2) the 2012 Employee Long-Term Incentive Plan (“2012 Employee LTIP”), and (3) the 2021 Employee Long-Term Incentive Plan (“2021 Employee LTIP”).

The 2021 Employee LTIP was approved by our shareholders on September 16, 2021, and became effective October 1, 2021. The 2021 Employee LTIP replaced the 2012 Employee LTIP that had previously been approved by our stockholders on September 13, 2012. Beginning September 16, 2021, we permanently ceased granting any additional shares under the 2012 Employee LTIP.

These share-based plans define fair market value as the closing sales price of a share of common stock as quoted on any established stock exchange for such date or the most recent trading day preceding such date if there were no trades on such date.

RESTRICTED STOCK ACTIVITY

For the nine months ended December 31, 2022, we granted 18,842 shares of our stock under the 2017 Director LTIP, and 138,643 restricted shares of our stock under the 2021 Employee LTIP. For the nine months ended December 31, 2021, we granted 13,562 shares of our stock under the 2017 Director LTIP, and 155,722 restricted shares of our stock under the 2012 Employee LTIP, and no shares under the 2021 Employee LTIP. A summary of our restricted stock activity, is as follows:

	Number of Shares			Weighted Average Grant-date Fair Value

Nonvested April 1, 2022		343,806		$	41.01
Granted		157,485		$	56.57
Vested		(178,374	)	$	39.46
Forfeited		(7,843	)	$	41.91
Nonvested December 31, 2022		315,074		$	49.57

EMPLOYEE STOCK PURCHASE PLAN

On September 15, 2022, our shareholders approved the 2022 Employee Stock Purchase Plan (“2022 ESPP”) through which eligible employees may purchase shares of our stock at a purchase price of the lesser of the closing price on the offering date or purchase date, discounted by up to 15%. As of December 31, 2022, we had not yet issued any shares under the 2022 ESPP.

COMPENSATION EXPENSE

We recognize compensation cost for awards of restricted stock with graded vesting on a straight-line basis over the requisite service period. There are no additional conditions for vesting other than service conditions. During the three months ended December 31, 2022, and 2021, we recognized $2.0 million and $1.8 million of total share-based compensation expense, respectively. During the nine months ended December 31, 2022, and 2021, we recognized $5.7 million and $5.4 million of total share-based compensation expense, respectively. Unrecognized compensation expense related to unvested restricted stock was $11.6 million as of December 31, 2022, which will be fully recognized over the next 30 months.

We also provide our employees with a contributory 401(k) profit sharing plan, to which we may contribute from time to time at our sole discretion. Employer contributions to the plan are always fully vested. For the three months ended December 31, 2022, our estimated contribution expense to the plan was $1.1 million, as compared to $0.8 million for the same period in the prior year. For the nine months ended December 31, 2022, our estimated contribution expense to the plan was $3.2 million, as compared to $2.6 million for the same period in the prior year.