8. Equity

During the three months ended March 31, 2019, Simon issued 24,000 shares of common stock to a limited partner of the Operating Partnership in exchange for an equal number of units pursuant to the partnership agreement of the Operating Partnership. During the three months ended March 31, 2019, the Operating Partnership redeemed 774 units from three limited partners for $0.1 million. These transactions increased Simon’s ownership interest in the Operating Partnership.

On February 13, 2017, Simon’s Board of Directors authorized a two-year extension of the previously authorized $2.0 billion common stock repurchase plan through March 31, 2019. On February 11, 2019, Simon's Board of Directors authorized a new common stock repurchase plan. Under the new plan, Simon may repurchase up to $2.0 billion of its common stock during the two-year period ending February 11, 2021 in the open market or in privately negotiated transactions as market conditions warrant. During the three months ended March 31, 2019, Simon purchased 46,377 shares at an average price of $164.49 per share as part of the previous program. During the three months ended March 31, 2018, Simon purchased 1,473,588 shares at an average price of $154.66 per share as part of the previous program. As Simon repurchases shares under these programs, the Operating Partnership repurchases an equal number of units from Simon.

We paid a common stock dividend of $2.05 per share in the first quarter of 2019 and $1.95 per share for the three months ended March 31, 2018. The Operating Partnership paid distributions per unit for the same amounts. Simon’s Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend for the second quarter of 2019 of $2.05 per share of common stock payable on May 31, 2019 to stockholders of record on May 17, 2019. The distribution rate on units is equal to the dividend rate on common stock.

Temporary Equity

Simon

Simon classifies as temporary equity those securities for which there is the possibility that Simon could be required to redeem the security for cash irrespective of the probability of such a possibility. As a result, Simon classifies one series of preferred units in the Operating Partnership and noncontrolling redeemable interests in properties in temporary equity. Each of these securities is discussed further below.

Limited Partners’ Preferred Interest in the Operating Partnership and Noncontrolling Redeemable Interests in Properties. The redemption features of the preferred units in the Operating Partnership contain provisions which could require the Operating Partnership to settle the redemption in cash. As a result, this series of preferred units in the Operating Partnership remains classified outside permanent equity. The remaining interests in a property or portfolio of properties which are redeemable at the option of the holder or in circumstances that may be outside Simon’s control are accounted for as temporary equity. The carrying amount of the noncontrolling interest is adjusted to the redemption amount assuming the instrument is redeemable at the balance sheet date. Changes in the redemption value of the underlying noncontrolling interest are recorded within accumulated deficit in the consolidated statements of equity in issuance of unit equivalents and other. There were no noncontrolling interests redeemable at amounts in excess of fair value as of March 31, 2019 and December 31, 2018. The following table summarizes the preferred units in the Operating Partnership and the amount of the noncontrolling redeemable interests in properties as follows:


	As of		As of
	March 31,		December 31,
	2019		2018
7.50% Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Units, 260,000 units authorized, 255,373 issued and outstanding	$	25,537	$	25,537
Other noncontrolling redeemable interests in properties		200,345		204,626
Limited partners’ preferred interest in the Operating Partnership and noncontrolling redeemable interests in properties	$	225,882	$	230,163

The Operating Partnership

The Operating Partnership classifies as temporary equity those securities for which there is the possibility that the Operating Partnership could be required to redeem the security for cash, irrespective of the probability of such a possibility. As a result, the Operating Partnership classifies one series of preferred units and noncontrolling redeemable interests in properties in temporary equity. The following table summarizes the preferred units and the amount of the noncontrolling redeemable interests in properties as follows:


	As of		As of
	March 31,		December 31,
	2019		2018
7.50% Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Units, 260,000 units authorized, 255,373 issued and outstanding	$	25,537	$	25,537
Other noncontrolling redeemable interests in properties		200,345		204,626
Total preferred units, at liquidation value, and noncontrolling redeemable interests in properties	$	225,882	$	230,163

Stock Based Compensation

Awards under our stock based compensation plans primarily take the form of LTIP unit and restricted stock grants. Restricted stock and awards under the LTIP programs are all performance based and are based on various individual, corporate and business unit performance measures as further described below. The expense related to these programs, net of amounts capitalized, is included within home and regional office costs and general and administrative costs in the accompanying statements of operations and comprehensive income.

LTIP Programs. The Compensation Committee has approved long‑term, performance based incentive compensation programs, or the LTIP programs, for certain senior executive officers. Awards under the LTIP programs take the form of LTIP units, a form of limited partnership interest issued by the Operating Partnership, which are subject to the participant maintaining employment with us through certain dates and other conditions as described in the applicable award agreements. Awarded LTIP units not earned in accordance with the conditions set forth in the applicable award agreements are forfeited. Earned and fully vested LTIP units are equivalent to units of the Operating Partnership. During the performance period, participants are entitled to receive distributions on the LTIP units awarded to them equal to 10% of the regular quarterly distributions paid on a unit of the Operating Partnership. As a result, we account for these LTIP units as participating securities under the two‑class method of computing earnings per share.

In 2018, the Compensation Committee established and granted awards under a redesigned LTIP program, or the 2018 LTIP program. Awards under the 2018 LTIP program were granted in two tranches, Tranche A LTIP units and Tranche B LTIP units. Each of the Tranche A LTIP units and the Tranche B LTIP units will be considered earned if, and only to the extent to which, the respective goals based on Funds From Operations, or FFO, per share or Relative TSR Goal performance criteria, as defined in the applicable award agreements, are achieved during the applicable two-year and three-year performance periods of the Tranche A LTIP units and Tranche B LTIP units, respectively. One‑half of the earned Tranche A LTIP units will vest on January 1, 2021 with the other one-half vesting on January 1, 2022. All of the earned Tranche B LTIP units will vest on January 1, 2022.

The grant date fair value of the portion of the LTIP units based on achieving the target FFO performance criteria is $6.1 million for the Tranche A LTIP units and the Tranche B LTIP units, for a total of $12.1 million. The 2018 LTIP program provides that the value of the FFO-based award may be adjusted up or down based on Simon’s performance compared to the target FFO performance criteria and has a maximum potential fair value of $18.2 million. The value of the FFO-based award is recorded as expense over the period from the grant date to the date at which the awards, if earned, would become vested, based on our assessment as to whether it is probable that the performance criteria will be achieved during the applicable performance periods.

The grant date fair values of any LTIP units based on TSR performance are estimated using a Monte Carlo model, and the resulting fixed expense is recorded regardless of whether the TSR performance criteria are achieved if the required service is delivered. The grant date fair values are being amortized into expense over the period from the grant date to the date at which the awards, if earned, would become vested.

The Compensation Committee approved LTIP unit grants as shown in the table below. The extent to which LTIP units were earned, and the aggregate grant date fair value, are as follows:


LTIP Program	LTIP Units Earned	Grant Date Fair Value of TSR Award	Grant Date Target Value of FFO-Based Award
2014-2016 LTIP program	120,314	$27.5 million	—
2015-2017 LTIP program	—	$21.6 million	—
2016-2018 LTIP program	—	$22.7 million	—
2018 LTIP program - Tranche A	To be determined in 2020	$6.1 million	$6.1 million
2018 LTIP program - Tranche B	To be determined in 2021	$6.1 million	$6.1 million

We recorded compensation expense, net of capitalization, related to these LTIP programs of approximately $3.9 million and $4.8 million for the three months ended March 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively.

Restricted Stock

We recorded compensation expense, net of capitalization, related to restricted stock of approximately $2.7 million and $2.3 million for the three months ended March 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively.

Other Compensation Arrangements. On July 6, 2011, in connection with the execution of an employment agreement, the Compensation Committee granted David Simon, Simon’s Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President, a retention award in the form of 1,000,000 LTIP units, or the Award, for his continued service through July 5, 2019. Effective December 31, 2013, the Award was modified, or the Current Award, and as a result the LTIP units would become earned and eligible to vest based on the attainment of Company‑based performance goals, in addition to the service‑based vesting requirement included in the original Award. The Current Award does not contain an opportunity for Mr. Simon to receive additional LTIP units above and beyond the original Award should our performance exceed the higher end of the performance criteria. The performance criteria of the Current Award are based on the attainment of specific FFO per share. Because the performance criteria has been met, a maximum of 360,000 LTIP units, or the A units, 360,000 LTIP units, or the B units, and 280,000 LTIP units, or the C units, became earned on December 31, 2015, December 31, 2016 and December 31, 2017, respectively. If the relevant performance criteria had not been achieved, all or a portion of the Current Award would have been forfeited. The earned A units vested on January 1, 2018, earned B units vested on January 1, 2019 and earned C units will vest on June 30, 2019, subject to Mr. Simon’s continued employment through such applicable date. The grant date fair value of the retention award of $120.3 million is being recognized as expense over the eight‑year term of his employment agreement on a straight‑line basis based on the applicable vesting periods of the A units, B units and C units.