NOTE 8—EQUITY

At December 31, 2016, Ramaco Development, LLC had 8,000,000 common units and 4,538,836 preferred units issued and outstanding. On February 8, 2017, in connection with our IPO, a corporate reorganization was completed and each unit of Ramaco Development, LLC was converted into approximately 2.81 shares of common stock. As a result, we issued 35,262,576 shares of common stock. We issued an additional 3,800,000 shares of common stock in the IPO.

We are authorized to issue up to a total of 260,000,000 shares of common stock and 50,000,000 shares of preferred stock, each having a par value of $0.01 per share. Holders of our common stock are entitled to one vote for each share held of record on all matters submitted to a vote of stockholders and to receive ratably in proportion to the shares of common stock held by them any dividends declared from time to time by the board of directors. Our common stock has no preferences or rights of conversion, exchange, pre-exemption or other subscription rights.

Stock-Based Compensation

We have a stock-based compensation plan under which stock options, restricted stock, performance-based stock awards and other stock-based awards may be granted. At December 31, 2019, 5.0 million shares were available under the current plan for future awards.

Stock Options—Options for the purchase of a total of 937,424 shares of our common stock for $5.34 per share were granted to two executives on August 31, 2016. The options have a ten-year term from the grant date and are fully vested. Stock-based compensation expense totaling $0.3 million was recognized in 2016 for these awards. The remaining $2.1 million of stock-based compensation expense associated with these awards was recognized during 2017. The options remain outstanding and unexercised and were not in-the-money at December 31, 2019.

Restricted Stock Awards—We grant restricted stock to certain senior executive employees and directors. The shares vest over one to three years from the date of grant. During the vesting period, the participants have voting rights and may receive dividends, but the shares may not be sold, assigned, transferred, pledged or otherwise encumbered. Unvested shares are forfeited upon termination of employment, unless an employee enters into another written arrangement. The fair value of the restricted shares on the date of the grant is amortized ratably over the service period. Compensation expense for restricted stock awards totaled $4.1 million for 2019, $2.6 million for 2018 and $0.7 million in 2017. As of December 31, 2019, there was $4.5 million of total unrecognized compensation cost related to unvested restricted stock to be recognized over a weighted average period of 1.6 years.

The following table summarizes restricted awards outstanding, as well as activity for the periods:


		Weighted
		Average Grant
	Shares		Date Fair Value
Outstanding at December 31, 2017	471,017	$	5.87
Granted	528,683		8.03
Vested	(27,984)		8.04
Forfeited	(5,582)		6.27
Outstanding at December 31, 2018	966,134	$	6.99
Granted	889,908		5.44
Vested	(211,964)		5.70
Forfeited	(15,837)		5.73
Outstanding at December 31, 2019	1,628,241	$	6.32

The total fair value of awards vested during 2019 was $0.8 million.

In December 2019, we entered into modification agreements with 14 executives and employees holding 1.4 million shares of unvested restricted stock whereby the vesting periods for these share grants was extended an additional six months. In exchange for the modification, we made an additional restricted stock grant to each of these executives and employees. In all, we granted 22,000 additional restricted shares in the modification. Incremental compensation costs associated with these modifications totaled $0.8 million and will be recognized over a weighted average period of 1.0 years.