SHARE-BASED COMPENSATION

3 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2024

12.	SHARE-BASED COMPENSATION

SHARE-BASED PLANS

As of June 30, 2024, we had share-based awards outstanding under the following plans: (1) the 2017 Non-Employee Director Long-Term Incentive Plan (“2017 Director LTIP”) and (2) the 2021 Employee Long-Term Incentive Plan (“2021 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 three months ended June 30, 2024, we granted 437 restricted shares under the 2017 Director LTIP and 121,097 restricted shares under the 2021 Employee LTIP. For the three months ended June 30, 2023, we granted 862 restricted shares under the 2017 Director LTIP and 152,865 restricted shares under the 2021 Employee LTIP. The following table provides a summary of the nonvested restricted shares for the three months ended June 30, 2024:

	Number of Shares			Weighted Average Grant-date Fair Value
Nonvested April 1, 2024		308,411		$	55.02
Granted		121,534		$	72.69
Vested		(145,201	)	$	53.48
Forfeited		(630	)	$	55.94
Nonvested June 30, 2024		284,114		$	63.37

PERFORMANCE STOCK UNITS

Beginning with the fiscal year ended March 31, 2024, we granted Performance Stock Units (“PSUs”) to our executive officers under our 2021 Employee LTIP. The PSUs will vest based on the achievement of certain performance goals at the end of a three-year performance period. The PSUs represent the right to receive shares of our common stock at the time of vesting. The total number of PSUs that vest range from 0% to 200% of the target number of PSUs based on our achievement of certain performance targets.

The following table provides a summary of the nonvested PSUs for the three months ended June 30, 2024:

	Number of Units		Weighted Average Grant-date Fair Value
Nonvested April 1, 2024		15,120	$	61.17
Granted		19,415	$	78.54
Nonvested June 30, 2024		34,535	$	70.94

EMPLOYEE STOCK PURCHASE PLAN

On September 15, 2022, our stockholders approved the 2022 Employee Stock Purchase Plan (“ESPP”) through which eligible employees may purchase up to an aggregate of 2.50 million shares of our stock at six-month intervals at a discount off the lesser of the closing market price on the first or the last trading day of each offering period. During the three months ended June 30, 2024, and June 30, 2023, we issued 28,915 shares at a price of $62.63 per share and 36,697 shares at a price of $38.10 per share, respectively, under the ESPP. As of June 30, 2024, there were 2.40 million shares remaining under the ESPP.

COMPENSATION EXPENSE

The following table provides a summary of our total share-based compensation expense, including for restricted stock awards, PSUs, our ESPP, and the related income tax benefit for the three months ended June 30, 2024, and 2023 (in thousands):

	Three Months Ended June 30,
	2024			2023
Equity-based compensation expense	$	2,855		$	2,205
Income tax benefit		(777	)		(600	)

We recognized the income tax benefit as a reduction to our provision for income taxes. As of June 30, 2024, the total unrecognized compensation expense related to non-vested restricted stock was $17.1 million, which is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of 36 months.

We also provide our employees with a contributory 401(k) profit sharing plan (the “401(k) plan”), to which we may contribute from time to time at our sole discretion. Employer contributions to the 401(k) plan are always fully vested. Our estimated contribution expense to the 401(k) plan for the three months ended June 30, 2024, and 2023, were both $1.4 million.