SHARE-BASED COMPENSATION

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2021

Share-based Payment Arrangement [Abstract]

The Franklin Electric Co., Inc. 2017 Stock Plan (the "2017 Stock Plan") is a stock-based compensation plan that provides for discretionary grants of stock options, stock awards, stock unit awards, and stock appreciation rights ("SARs") to key employees and non-employee directors. The number of shares that may be issued under the Plan is 1,400,000. Stock options and SARs reduce the number of available shares by one share for each share subject to the option or SAR, and stock awards and stock unit awards settled in shares reduce the number of available shares by 1.5 shares for every one share delivered.

The Company also maintains the Franklin Electric Co., Inc. 2012 Stock Plan (the "2012 Stock Plan"), which is a stock-based compensation plan that provides for discretionary grants of stock options, stock awards, and stock unit awards to key employees and non-employee directors.

The 2012 Stock Plan authorized 2,400,000 shares for issuance as follows:


2012 Stock Plan						Authorized Shares
Stock Options						1,680,000
Stock/Stock Unit Awards						720,000

The Company also maintains the Amended and Restated Franklin Electric Co., Inc. Stock Plan (the "2009 Stock Plan") which, as amended in 2009, provided for discretionary grants of stock options and stock awards. The 2009 Stock Plan authorized 4,400,000 shares for issuance as follows:


2009 Stock Plan			Authorized Shares
Stock Options			3,200,000
Stock Awards			1,200,000

All options in the 2009 Stock Plan have been awarded and no additional awards are granted out of the plan. However, there are still unvested awards and unexercised options under this plan.

The Company currently issues new shares from its common stock balance to satisfy option exercises and the settlement of stock awards and stock unit awards made under the outstanding stock plans.

Stock Options:

The fair value of each option award is estimated on the date of grant using the Black-Scholes option valuation model with a single approach and amortized using a straight-line attribution method over the option’s vesting period.

The assumptions used for the Black-Scholes model to determine the fair value of options granted during the first quarters ended March 31, 2021 and March 31, 2020 are as follows:


	March 31, 2021		March 31, 2020
Risk-free interest rate	0.66	%	1.39	%
Dividend yield	0.96	%	1.04	%

Volatility factor	34.98	%	29.45	%

Expected term	5.5 years		5.5 years

A summary of the Company’s outstanding stock option activity and related information for the first quarter ended March 31, 2021 is as follows:


(Shares in thousands)	March 31, 2021
Stock Options	Shares	Weighted-Average Exercise Price
Outstanding at beginning of period	1,331	$	41.90
Granted	152	73.14
Exercised	(143)	35.46
Forfeited	—	—
Outstanding at end of period	1,340	$	46.12
Expected to vest after applying forfeiture rate	1,336	$	46.07
Vested and exercisable at end of period	949	$	39.71

A summary of the weighted-average remaining contractual term and aggregate intrinsic value as of March 31, 2021 is as follows:


	Weighted-Average Remaining Contractual Term	Aggregate Intrinsic Value (000's)
Outstanding at end of period	6.08 years	$	31,522
Expected to vest after applying forfeiture rate	6.07 years	$	31,499
Vested and exercisable at end of period	4.93 years	$	28,004

The total intrinsic value of options exercised during the first quarters ended March 31, 2021 and March 31, 2020 was $5.8 million and $0.5 million, respectively.

As of March 31, 2021, there was $1.7 million of total unrecognized compensation cost related to non-vested stock options granted under the stock plans. That cost is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of 1.99 years.

Stock/Stock Unit Awards:

A summary of the Company’s restricted stock/stock unit award activity and related information for the first quarter ended March 31, 2021 is as follows:


(Shares in thousands)	March 31, 2021
Restricted Stock/Stock Unit Awards	Shares	Weighted-Average Grant- Date Fair Value
Non-vested at beginning of period	403	$	49.34
Awarded	92	73.15
Vested	(107)	41.45
Forfeited	(7)	43.34
Non-vested at end of period	381	$	57.41

As of March 31, 2021, there was $12.7 million of total unrecognized compensation cost related to non-vested restricted stock/stock unit awards granted under the stock plans. That cost is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of 1.61 years.