Stock Based Compensation

Deferred Stock Awards

From time to time, Piedmont has granted equity awards to all of its employees and independent directors. 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. In lieu of providing only deferred stock awards that subsequently vest ratably over a multi-year period, Piedmont utilizes a multi-year performance share program as a portion of the LTIC award eligible for certain of its employees whereby equity awards may be earned only on the relative performance of Piedmont's total stockholder return ("TSR") as compared with a predetermined peer group's total stockholder return over the same multi-year period. Shares, if earned, are not awarded until after the end of the multi-year performance period and vest upon award. Shares granted to independent directors generally vest over a one-year service period.

A rollforward of Piedmont's equity based award activity for the year ended December 31, 2016 is as follows:



	Shares		Weighted-Average Grant Date Fair Value
Unvested and Potential Stock Awards as of December 31, 2015	959,446		$	18.67
Deferred Stock Awards Granted	319,083		$	19.96
Decrease in Estimated Potential Future Performance Share Awards, net of forfeitures	(2,358	)	$	21.22
Performance Stock Awards Vested	(53,287	)	$	18.91
Deferred Stock Awards Vested	(258,776	)	$	18.57
Deferred Stock Awards Forfeited	(19,885	)	$	18.29
Unvested and Potential Stock Awards as of December 31, 2016	944,223		$	19.44

The following table provides additional information regarding stock award activity during the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015, and 2014 (in thousands except for per share data):



	2016		2015		2014
Weighted-Average Grant Date Fair Value of Deferred Stock Granted During the Period (per share)	$	19.96	$	17.59	$	17.78
Total Grant Date Fair Value of Deferred Stock Vested During the Period	$	4,806	$	4,239	$	3,353
Share-based Liability Awards Paid During the Period ⁽¹⁾	$	1,127	$	—	$	—


⁽¹⁾	Amounts reflect the issuance of performance share awards related to the 2013-15 Performance Share Plan during the period.

A detail of Piedmont’s outstanding employee deferred stock awards as of December 31, 2016 is as follows:



Date of grant	Type of Award	Net Shares Granted ⁽¹⁾	Grant Date Fair Value		Vesting Schedule	Unvested and Potential Shares as of December 31, 2016
January 3, 2014	Deferred Stock Award	86,512	$	16.45	Of the shares granted, 20% vested or will vest on January 3, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019, respectively.	52,886
May 9, 2014	Deferred Stock Award	144,625	$	18.47	Of the shares granted, 25% vested on the date of grant, and 25% of the shares vest on May 9, 2015, 2016, and 2017, respectively.	44,047
May 9, 2014	Fiscal Year 2014-2016 Performance Share Program	—	$	22.00	Shares awarded, if any, will vest immediately upon determination of award in 2017.	118,448	⁽²⁾
May 1, 2015	Deferred Stock Award	243,884	$	17.59	Of the shares granted, 25% vested on the date of grant, and 25% of the shares vest on May 1, 2016, 2017, and 2018, respectively.	138,128
May 1, 2015	Fiscal Year 2015-2017 Performance Share Program	—	$	18.42	Shares awarded, if any, will vest immediately upon determination of award in 2018.	268,358	⁽²⁾
May 12, 2016	Deferred Stock Award- Board of Directors	31,368	$	20.40	Of the shares granted, 100% will vest on May 12, 2017.	31,368
May 24, 2016	Deferred Stock Award	259,957	$	19.91	Of the shares granted, 25% vested on the date of grant, and 25% of the shares vest on May 24, 2017, 2018, and 2019, respectively.	206,380
May 24, 2016	Fiscal Year 2016-2018 Performance Share Program	—	$	23.02	Shares awarded, if any, will vest immediately upon determination of award in 2019.	84,608	⁽²⁾
Total Unvested and Potential Stock Awards						944,223


⁽¹⁾	Amounts reflect the total grant to employees and independent directors, net of shares surrendered upon vesting to satisfy required minimum tax withholding obligations through December 31, 2016.


⁽²⁾	Estimated based on Piedmont's cumulative TSR for the respective performance period through December 31, 2016. Share 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, 2016, 2015, and 2014, Piedmont recognized approximately $8.0 million, $8.9 million and $5.3 million of compensation expense related to stock awards, of which approximately $6.5 million, $7.0 million and $3.8 million, related to the amortization of nonvested shares, respectively. During the year ended December 31, 2016, a total of 185,169 shares were issued to employees. As of December 31, 2016, approximately $3.8 million of unrecognized compensation cost related to nonvested, annual deferred stock awards remained, which Piedmont will record in its consolidated statements of income over a weighted-average vesting period of approximately one year.