In January 2018 and January 2019, the Company's Board of Directors approved awards of restricted stock units under the Citizens, Inc. Omnibus Incentive Plan for non-employee directors and the executive management team. Vesting of the units is subject to the recipient’s continued service or employment with the Company through the applicable vesting date, which is one year for directors and two years for employees. In addition, the Board also approved equity grants for other employees with a delegation to the President and Chief Executive Officer to determine the participant and values to be awarded. There are three million shares that may be granted under the plan.

The following table provides a rollforward of restricted stock activity:



Restricted Stock Units	Units	Weighted Average Exercise Price		Weighted Average Remaining Contractual Life	Aggregate Fair Value ⁽¹⁾
	(In thousands)			(In years)	(In thousands)
Outstanding at December 31, 2018	119	$	7.19	1.32	$	854
Granted	446	7.20			3,212
Less:
Vested	201	7.36			1,479
Forfeited	89	7.17			640
Outstanding at December 31, 2019	275	$	7.09	0.50	$	1,947

⁽¹⁾ Fair value per share of restricted stock units was equal to Grant Date fair value per share, which was calculated based on the closing price of the Company's Class A common stock on the NYSE on the grant date, in accordance with ASC Topic 718.

As of December 31, 2019, we recognized $2.2 million of expense, while $1.0 million was unrecognized and is expected to be amortized up to 1.10 years.

Restricted stock unit awards give the participant the right to receive common stock in the future, subject to certain restrictions and a risk of forfeiture. Forfeitures are recognized in the period they occur. Compensation expense of $2.1 million and $0.4 million was recognized as of December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively, related to these awards.