Stock Based Compensation

From time to time, Piedmont has granted equity awards to all of its employees. The deferred stock awards are determined by the Compensation Committee of the board of directors of Piedmont and typically vest on the award anniversary date ratably over a multi-year period. Piedmont also has a multi-year performance share program for certain of its employees whereby equity awards may be earned based on the relative performance of Piedmont's total stockholder return as compared with a predetermined peer group's total stockholder return over the same multi-year period. Shares are not awarded until after the end of the multi-year performance period and vest upon award.

A rollforward of Piedmont's equity based award activity for the three months ended March 31, 2015 is as follows:



	Shares		Weighted-Average Grant Date Fair Value
Unvested Deferred Stock Awards as of December 31, 2014	506,404		$	18.12
Deferred Stock Awards Granted During Three Months Ended March 31, 2015	—		$	—
Adjustment to Estimated Future Grants of Performance Share Awards During Three Months Ended March 31, 2015	(15,413	)	$	18.51
Deferred Stock Awards Vested During Three Months Ended March 31, 2015	(20,976	)	$	16.48
Deferred Stock Awards Forfeited During Three Months Ended March 31, 2015	—		$	—
Unvested Deferred Stock Awards as of March 31, 2015	470,015		$	18.18

The following table provides additional information regarding stock award activity during the three months ended March 31, 2015 and 2014, respectively (in thousands except for per share data):



	Three Months Ended
	March 31, 2015		March 31, 2014
Weighted-Average Grant Date Fair Value of Shares Granted During the Period (per share)	$	—	$	16.45
Total Grant Date Fair Value of Shares Vested During the Period	$	346	$	4
Share-based Liability Awards Paid During the Period⁽¹⁾	$	—	$	—


⁽¹⁾	Amount reflects the issuance of performance share awards during the period.

A detail of Piedmont’s outstanding employee stock awards as of March 31, 2015 is as follows:



Date of grant	Type of Award	Net Shares Granted ⁽¹⁾	Grant Date Fair Value		Vesting Schedule	Unvested Shares as of March 31, 2015
April 4, 2012	Deferred Stock Award	169,128	$	17.53	Of the shares granted, 25% vested on the date of grant, and 25% vested or will vest on April 4, 2013, 2014, and 2015, respectively.	53,868
April 2, 2013	Deferred Stock Award	132,826	$	19.47	Of the shares granted, 25% vested on the date of grant, and 25% vested or will vest on April 2, 2014, 2015, and 2016, respectively.	76,156
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⁾
January 3, 2014	Deferred Stock Award	95,476	$	16.45	Of the shares granted, 20% will vest on January 3, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019, respectively.	82,673
May 9, 2014	Deferred Stock Award	179,897	$	18.47	Of the shares granted, 25% vested on the date of grant, and 25% vested or will vest on May 9, 2015, 2016, and 2017, respectively.	144,287
May 9, 2014	Fiscal Year 2014-2016 Performance Share Program	—	$	18.51	Shares awarded, if any, will vest immediately upon determination of award in 2017.	113,031	⁽³⁾
Total						470,015


⁽¹⁾	Amounts reflect the total grant to employees, net of shares surrendered upon vesting to satisfy required minimum tax withholding obligations through March 31, 2015.


⁽²⁾	Estimated based on Piedmont's cumulative total stockholder return ("TSR") for the respective performance period through March 31, 2015. As of March 31, 2015, Piedmont's TSR for the fiscal year 2013-2015 performance share program was below threshold. Share estimates are subject to change in future periods based on both Piedmont's and its peers' stock performance and dividends paid.


⁽³⁾	Estimated based on Piedmont's cumulative TSR for the respective performance period through March 31, 2015. Share estimates are subject to change in future periods based on both Piedmont's and its peers' stock performance and dividends paid.

During the three months ended March 31, 2015 and 2014, Piedmont recognized approximately $0.9 million and $0.6 million of compensation expense related to stock awards, of which $0.8 million and $0.6 million related to the amortization of unvested shares, respectively. During the three months ended March 31, 2015, a net total of 15,418 shares were issued to employees, directors, and officers. As of March 31, 2015, approximately $2.3 million of unrecognized compensation cost related to unvested deferred stock awards remained, which Piedmont will record in its consolidated statements of income over a weighted-average vesting period of approximately one year.