Stock Based Compensation

Deferred Stock Awards

Piedmont has granted deferred stock awards in the form of restricted stock to its employees. The awards are determined by the Compensation Committee of the board of directors of Piedmont on an annual basis and typically vest over a three-year period beginning on the grant date. In addition, Piedmont has adopted a multi-year performance share program for certain of its employees. Restricted shares are earned based on the relative performance of Piedmont's total stockholder return as compared with a predetermined peer group's total stockholder return over a three-year period. Shares are not awarded until after the end of the third year in the performance period and vest immediately upon award.

A rollforward of Piedmont's deferred stock award activity for the year ended December 31, 2013 is as follows:



	Shares		Weighted-Average Grant Date Fair Value
Unvested Deferred Stock Awards as of December 31, 2012	318,893		$	18.41
Deferred Stock Awards Granted During Fiscal Year 2013	161,257		$	19.47
Deferred Stock Awards Vested During Fiscal Year 2013	(209,284	)	$	18.91
Deferred Stock Awards Forfeited During Fiscal Year 2013	(5,727	)	$	18.62
Unvested Deferred Stock Awards as of December 31, 2013	265,139		$	18.65

The following table provides additional information regarding stock award activity during the years ended December 31, 2013, 2012, and 2011 (in thousands except for per share data):



	2013		2012		2011
Weighted-Average Grant Date Fair Value for Shares Granted During the Year (per share)	$	19.47	$	17.53	$	19.03
Total Grant Date Fair Value of Shares Vested During the Year	$	3,957	$	5,331	$	5,405
Share-based Liabilities Paid⁽¹⁾	$	103	$	798	$	851


⁽¹⁾	Amounts reflect the issuance of performance share awards during the period.

A detail of Piedmont’s outstanding employee deferred stock awards as of December 31, 2013 is as follows:



Date of grant	Type of Award	Net Shares Granted ⁽¹⁾	Grant Date Fair Value		Vesting Schedule	Unvested Shares as of December 31, 2013
April 5, 2011	Annual Deferred Stock Award	116,116	$	19.40	Of the shares granted, 25% vested on the date of grant, and 25% of the shares vest on April 5, 2012, 2013, and 2014, respectively.	36,835
April 5, 2011	Fiscal Year 2011-2013 Performance Share Program	—	$	18.27	Shares awarded, if any, will vest immediately upon determination of award in 2014.	—	⁽²	⁾
April 4, 2012	Annual Deferred Stock Award	190,134	$	17.53	Of the shares granted, 25% vested on the date of grant, and 25% of the shares vest on April 4, 2013, 2014, and 2015, respectively.	110,184
April 4, 2012	Fiscal Year 2012-2014 Performance Share Program	—	$	17.42	Shares awarded, if any, will vest immediately upon determination of award in 2015.	—	⁽²	⁾
April 2, 2013	Annual Deferred Stock Award	146,679	$	19.47	Of the shares granted, 25% vested on the date of grant, and 25% of the shares vest on April 2, 2014, 2015, and 2016, respectively.	118,120
April 2, 2013	Fiscal Year 2013-2015 Performance Share Program	—	$	18.91	Shares awarded, if any, will vest immediately upon determination of award in 2016.	—	⁽²	⁾
Total						265,139


⁽¹⁾	Amounts reflect the total grant to employees, net of shares surrendered upon vesting to satisfy required minimum tax withholding obligations through December 31, 2013.


⁽²⁾	Estimated based on Piedmont's cumulative total stockholder return ("TSR") for the respective performance period through December 31, 2013. As of December 31, 2013, Piedmont's TSR for each of these respective plans was below threshold. Such estimates are subject to change in future periods based on both Piedmont's and its peers' stock performance and dividends paid.

During the years ended December 31, 2013, 2012, and 2011, Piedmont recognized approximately $3.1 million, $3.9 million and $6.5 million of compensation expense related to stock awards, of which approximately $2.0 million, $2.5 million and $5.3 million, related to the amortization of nonvested shares, respectively. During the year ended December 31, 2013, a total of 150,852 shares were issued to employees, directors and officers. As of December 31, 2013, approximately $1.9 million of unrecognized compensation cost related to nonvested, annual deferred stock awards remained, which Piedmont will record in its statements of income over a weighted-average vesting period of approximately one year.