STOCK-BASED COMPENSATION PLANS

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2011

STOCK-BASED COMPENSATION PLANS

STOCK-BASED COMPENSATION PLANS

6. STOCK-BASED COMPENSATION PLANS

Stock Incentive Plans

        The Company's Stock Incentive Plans provide for the granting of stock awards, including stock options, stock appreciation rights and restricted stock, to employees and non-employees, including directors of the Company.

        As of December 31, 2011, the Company had 464,426 shares of Common Stock available for grant under stock incentive plans.

Stock Options

        Option activity during years 2010 and 2011 was as follows:

	Number of Shares			Weighted Average Exercise Price		Aggregate Intrinsic Value
Balance Outstanding, December 31, 2009		538,950		$	4.44
Granted		—
Forfeited		(122,200	)
Exercised		(116,750	)
Balance Outstanding, December 31, 2010		300,000		$	4.93	$	581,000
Granted		—
Forfeited		(91,206	)
Exercised		(208,794	)
Balance Outstanding, December 31, 2011		0				$	0

        As of December 31, 2011, there are no outstanding options. Cash received from the exercise of stock options for the years ended December 31, 2011 and 2010 was $334,000 and $316,000, respectively. Shares issued as a result of the 208,794 options exercised in 2011 were approximately 118,000.

Stock Warrants

        As of December 31, 2011 and 2010, the Company had 0 and 300,000 warrants outstanding to purchase common stock, respectively. The warrants were exerciseable at an exercise price of $4.41. The warrants were issued May 10, 2004, in connection with an acquisition. In 2011, all of the aforementioned warrants were exercised. As permitted under the warrant agreements, the warrants were exercised in cashless transactions, and the total shares issued as a result of the warrant exercises were 117,145.

Restricted Stock

        During 2011 and 2010, 130,466 and 293,235 shares of restricted stock were awarded with a weighted average value of $7.08 and $3.38 per share, respectively. Of the restricted shares granted in 2011, 40,000 shares have performance based vesting requirements. The value at the date of award is amortized to compensation expense over the related service period, which is generally three years, or over the performance period. Shares of non-vested restricted stock are forfeited if a recipient leaves the Company before the vesting date. Shares that are forfeited become available for future awards.

        The following is a summary of restricted stock activity during years 2010 and 2011:

	Number of Nonvested Restricted Shares
Balance, December 31, 2009		173,712
Awarded		293,235
Forfeited		(1,849	)
Vested		(86,019	)
Balance, December 31, 2010		379,079
Awarded		130,466
Forfeited		(2,768	)
Vested		(223,169	)
Balance, December 31, 2011		283,608

        Subsequent to December 31, 2011, it was determined that the performance criteria related to the 40,000 performance based shares was achieved. The related shares will vest during the first quarter of 2012.

Share-Based Compensation Expense

Stock Options

        All stock options are fully vested, and the Company did not recognize any compensation expense relating to outstanding stock options during 2011 or 2010.

Restricted Stock

        During 2011 and 2010, compensation expense net of forfeitures of $703,000 and $800,000 was recorded, respectively. As of December 31, 2011, there was $690,000 of total unrecognized compensation expense related to restricted stock awards, of which approximately $394,000 is expected to be recognized in 2012, with the remaining amount of $296,000 in 2013 and 2014.

Employee Stock Ownership Plan

        The Company sponsors an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) that covers all non-union U.S. employees who work over 1,000 hours per year. The terms of the ESOP require the Company to make an annual contribution equal to the greater of i) the Board established percentage of pretax income before the contribution (5% in 2011 and 2010) or ii) the annual interest payable on any loan outstanding to the Company. Company contributions to the Plan accrued for 2011 and 2010, respectively, were $437,000 and $270,000. These amounts are included in General and Administrative costs in the Consolidated Statement of Operations.

Dividends

        The Board of Directors began a quarterly dividend program in the third quarter of 2011, declaring a $0.02 per share dividend on all outstanding common shares. For the year ended December 31, 2011, a total of $0.04 per share on all outstanding shares was paid. Based on the terms of the Company's Credit Agreement, as amended, dividends paid to shareholders are acceptable, subject to the Company's compliance with the covenants under the Credit Agreement.

        For the first quarter of 2012, the Board increased the dividend to $0.025 per share on all outstanding common shares.