STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2023

STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY

13.STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY

Dividends on Common Stock

On August 5, 2020, the Board of Directors ("BOD") voted unanimously to approve a plan to revoke the Company’s REIT election and become a taxable C Corporation, effective January 1, 2021; the BOD also voted unanimously to discontinue the then-current quarterly dividend and prioritize allocating the Company's free cash flow to reduce debt levels.

Common Stock

Share Repurchase Program. On May 12, 2022, the BOD approved a share repurchase program to repurchase up to $150.0 million of the Company's common stock. On August 2, 2022, the BOD increased the authorization to repurchase under the share repurchase program by up to an additional $75.0 million of the Company's common stock, or a total aggregate authorized amount to repurchase up to $225.0 million of the Company's common stock. Repurchases of the Company's outstanding common stock will be made in accordance with applicable securities laws and may be made at the Company's discretion based on parameters set by the BOD from time to time in the open market, through privately negotiated transactions, or otherwise. The share repurchase program has no time limit and does not obligate the Company to purchase any particular amount of its common stock. The authorization for the share repurchase program may be terminated, suspended, increased or decreased by the BOD in its discretion at any time. Through December 31, 2023, the Company repurchased 10.1 million shares of its common stock at a total cost of $112.6 million, excluding costs associated with the share repurchase program, or $11.16 per share, including 3.5 million shares at a total cost of $38.1 million, or $10.97 per share, during 2023.

Restricted stock units. During 2023, CoreCivic issued approximately 2.0 million RSUs to certain of its employees and non-employee directors, with an aggregate value of $22.3 million, including 1.8 million RSUs to employees and non-employee directors whose compensation is charged to general and administrative expense and 0.2 million RSUs to employees whose compensation is charged to operating expense. During 2022, CoreCivic issued approximately 2.1 million RSUs to certain of its employees and non-employee directors, with an aggregate value of $21.5 million, including 1.9 million RSUs to employees and non-employee directors whose compensation is charged to general and administrative expense and 0.2 million RSUs to employees whose compensation is charged to operating expense.

CoreCivic has established performance-based vesting conditions on a portion of the RSUs awarded to its officers and executive officers that, unless earlier vested under the terms of the agreements, are subject to vesting over a three-year period based upon the satisfaction of certain annual performance criteria. The RSUs awarded to officers and executive officers in 2021, 2022 and 2023 consist of a combination of awards with performance-based conditions and time-based conditions. Unless earlier vested under the terms of the RSU agreements, the RSUs with time-based vesting conditions vest in equal amounts over three years on the later of (i) the anniversary date of the grant or (ii) the delivery of the audited financial statements by the Company's independent registered public accountant for the applicable fiscal year. The RSUs with performance-based vesting conditions are divided into one-third increments, each of which is subject to vesting based upon satisfaction of certain annual performance criteria established at the beginning of the fiscal years ending December 31, 2021, 2022, and 2023 for the 2021 awards, December 31, 2022, 2023, and 2024 for the 2022 awards, and December 31, 2023, 2024, and 2025 for the 2023 awards, and which can be increased up to 150% or decreased to 0% based on performance relative to the annual performance criteria, and further increased or decreased using a modifier of 80% to 120% based on CoreCivic's total shareholder return relative to a peer group. Based on performance achieved for 2023, the RSUs subject to performance-based vesting criteria were increased by 106.9%; and were further increased by a 120% modifier based on CoreCivic's total shareholder return relative to the peer group. Because the performance criteria for the fiscal years ending December 31, 2024 and 2025 have not yet been established, the values of the third RSU increment of the 2022 awards and of the second and third increments of the 2023 awards for financial reporting purposes will not be determined until such criteria are established. Time-based RSUs issued to other employees, unless earlier vested under the terms of the agreements, generally vest in equal amounts over three years on the later of (i) the anniversary date of the grant or (ii) the delivery of the audited financial statements by the Company's independent registered public accountant for the applicable fiscal year. RSUs issued to non-employee directors generally vest one year from the date of award.

Nonvested RSU transactions as of December 31, 2023 and activity for the year then ended are summarized below (in thousands, except per share amounts).

	Shares of  RSUs	Weighted average grant date fair value
Nonvested at December 31, 2022	3,871	$9.87
Granted	1,968	$11.35
Cancelled	(120)	$10.20
Vested	(1,849)	$10.33
Nonvested at December 31, 2023	3,870	$10.61

During 2023, 2022, and 2021, CoreCivic expensed $20.8 million ($1.6 million of which was recorded in operating expenses and $19.2 million of which was recorded in general and administrative expenses), $17.6 million ($1.5 million of which was recorded in operating expenses and $16.1 million of which was recorded in general and administrative expenses), and $18.7 million ($1.6 million of which was recorded in operating expenses and $17.1 million of which was recorded in general and administrative expenses), net of forfeitures, relating to RSUs, respectively. As of December 31, 2023, CoreCivic had $16.2 million of total unrecognized compensation cost related to RSUs that is expected to be recognized over a remaining weighted-average period of 1.6 years. The total fair value of RSUs that vested during 2023, 2022, and 2021 was $17.8 million, $18.3 million, and $6.4 million, respectively.

At CoreCivic's 2022 annual meeting of stockholders held in May 2022, CoreCivic's stockholders approved the CoreCivic, Inc. Amended and Restated 2020 Stock Incentive Plan that authorized the issuance of new awards to an aggregate of up to 5.9 million shares, plus remaining shares that were available for grant under the CoreCivic, Inc. 2020 Stock Incentive Plan. As of December 31, 2023, CoreCivic had 6.1 million shares available for issuance under the Amended and Restated 2020 Stock Incentive Plan.

Preferred Stock

CoreCivic has the authority to issue 50.0 million shares of $0.01 par value per share preferred stock (the "Preferred Stock"). The Preferred Stock may be issued from time to time upon authorization by the BOD, in such series and with such preferences, conversion or other rights, voting powers, restrictions, limitations as to dividends, qualifications or other provisions as may be fixed by CoreCivic's BOD.