The Company previously maintained the ESSA Bancorp, Inc. 2007 Equity Incentive Plan (the “Plan”). The Plan provided for a total of 2,377,326 shares of common stock for issuance upon the grant or exercise of awards. Of the shares that were available under the Plan, 1,698,090 were available to be issued in connection with the exercise of stock options and 679,236 were available to be issued as restricted stock. The Plan allowed for the granting of non-qualified stock options (“NSOs”), incentive stock options (“ISOs”), and restricted stock. Options granted under the plan were granted at no less than the fair value of the Company’s common stock on the date of the grant. As of the effective date of the 2016 Equity Incentive Plan (detailed below), no further grants will be made under the Plan and forfeitures of outstanding awards under the Plan will be added to the shares available under the 2016 Equity Incentive Plan.

The Company replaced the 2007 Equity Incentive Plan with the ESSA Bancorp, Inc. 2016 Equity Incentive Plan (the “2016 Plan”) which was approved by shareholders on March 3, 2016. The 2016 Plan provides for a total of 250,000 shares of common stock for issuance upon the grant or exercise of awards. The 2016 Plan allows for the granting of restricted stock, restricted stock units, ISOs and NSOs.

The Company replaced the 2016 Equity Incentive Plan with the ESSA Bancorp, Inc. 2024 Equity Incentive Plan (the “2024 Plan”) which was approved by shareholders on March 7, 2024. The 2024 Plan provides for a total of 200,000 shares of common stock for issuance upon the grant or exercise of awards. The 2024 Plan allows for the granting of restricted stock, restricted stock units, ISO’s and NSO’s.

The Company classifies share-based compensation for employees and outside directors within “Compensation and employee benefits” in the Consolidated Statement of Operations to correspond with the same line item as compensation paid.

Restricted stock shares outstanding at June 30, 2024 vest over periods ranging from 3 to 39 months. The product of the number of shares granted and the grant date market price of the Company’s common stock determines the fair value of restricted shares under the Company’s restricted stock plan. The Company expenses the fair value of all share based compensation grants over the requisite service period.

For the three months ended June 30, 2024 and 2023, the Company recorded $93,000 and $92,000 of share-based compensation expense, respectively, comprised of restricted stock expense. For the nine months ended June 30, 2024 and 2023, the Company recorded $478,000 and $471,000 of share-based compensation expense, respectively, comprised of restricted stock expense. Expected future compensation expense relating to the restricted shares outstanding at June 30, 2024 is $669,000 over the remaining vesting period of 3.25 years.

The following is a summary of the status of the Company’s restricted stock as of June 30, 2024, and changes therein during the nine month period then ended:


	Number of Restricted Stock			Weighted- average Grant Date Fair Value
Nonvested at September 30, 2023		32,512		$	17.03
Granted		40,586			14.85
Vested		(14,268	)		14.57
Forfeited		—			—
Nonvested at June 30, 2024		58,830		$	16.12