Stock-Based Compensation

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2023

Share-Based Payment Arrangement [Abstract]

Stock-Based Compensation

Stock-Based Compensation

Under the Peoples Bancorp Inc. Fourth Amended and Restated 2006 Equity Plan (the "2006 Equity Plan"), Peoples may grant, among other awards, nonqualified stock options, incentive stock options, restricted common share awards, stock appreciation rights, performance units and unrestricted common share awards to employees and non-employee directors. The total number of common shares available under the 2006 Equity Plan is 1,493,297. The maximum number of common shares that can be issued for incentive stock options is 750,000 common shares. Since February 2009, Peoples has granted restricted common shares to employees, and periodically to non-employee directors, subject to the terms and conditions prescribed by the 2006 Equity Plan. In general, common shares issued in connection with stock-based awards are issued from treasury shares to the extent available. If no treasury shares are available, common shares are issued from authorized but unissued common shares.

Restricted Common Shares

 Under the 2006 Equity Plan, Peoples may award restricted common shares to officers, key employees and non-employee directors. In general, the restrictions on the restricted common shares awarded to officers and key employees expire after periods ranging from one to five years. Since 2018, common shares awarded to non-employee directors have vested immediately upon grant with no restrictions. In the first nine months of 2023, Peoples granted an aggregate of 188,372 restricted common shares subject to performance-based vesting to officers and key employees with restrictions that will lapse three years after the grant date; provided that in order for the restricted common shares to vest in full, Peoples must have reported positive net income and maintained a well-capitalized status by regulatory standards for each of the three fiscal years preceding the vesting date.

The following table summarizes the changes to Peoples’ restricted common shares for the nine months ended September 30, 2023:

	Time-Based Vesting			Performance-Based Vesting
	Number of Common Shares	Weighted-Average Grant Date Fair Value		Number of Common Shares	Weighted-Average Grant Date Fair Value
Oustanding at January 1, 2023	138,522	$	27.25	295,875	$	32.20
Awarded	61,273	26.51		188,372	30.30
Released	(33,220)	24.73		(70,458)	32.91
Forfeited	(6,547)	30.54		(9,179)	31.14
Outstanding at September 30, 2023	160,028	$	27.36	404,610	$	31.21

For the nine months ended September 30, 2023, the intrinsic value for restricted common shares released was $3.0 million compared to $3.7 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2022.

Stock-Based Compensation

Peoples recognizes stock-based compensation, which is included as a component of Peoples’ salaries and employee benefit costs, for restricted and unrestricted common shares, as well as purchases made by participants in the employee stock purchase plan. For restricted common shares, Peoples recognizes stock-based compensation based on the estimated fair value of the awards expected to vest on the grant date. The estimated fair value is then expensed over the vesting period, which is normally three years. Peoples also has an employee stock purchase plan whereby employees can purchase Peoples' common shares at a discount of 15%. The following table summarizes the amount of stock-based compensation expense and related tax benefit recognized for each period:

	Three Months Ended				Nine Months Ended
	September 30,				September 30,
(Dollars in thousands)	2023		2022		2023		2022
Employee stock-based compensation expense:
Stock grant expense	$	1,074	$	780	$	4,233	$	2,933
Employee stock purchase plan expense	33		2		106		54
Total employee stock-based compensation expense	1,107		782		$	4,339	$	2,987
Non-employee director stock-based compensation expense	139		127		$	410	$	378
Total stock-based compensation expense	1,246		909		$	4,749	$	3,365
Recognized tax benefit	(291)		(195)		(1,109)		(721)
Net stock-based compensation expense	$	955	$	714	$	3,640	$	2,644

The fair value of restricted common share awards on the grant date is the market price of Peoples' common shares on that date. Total unrecognized stock-based compensation expense related to unvested restricted common share awards was $6.0 million at September 30, 2023, which will be recognized over a weighted-average period of 2.1 years.