STOCK-BASED COMPENSATION PLANS

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2023

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, 2023, the Company had 745,260 shares of common stock available for grant under stock incentive plans.

Restricted Stock

The following is a summary of restricted stock grants, fair value and performance based awards:

				Awards with
	Unvested	Weighted average		performance
	restricted stock	grant date fair		vesting
For the year ended December 31,	awards	value		requirements
2023	129,328	$	40.85	74,495
2022	182,497	$	33.21	111,251
2021	109,462	$	32.06	63,432

The value at the date of award is amortized to compensation expense over the related service period, which is generally three years for time vested grants. Performance-based grants are generally subject to a 3 year or 5 year service 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. For performance-based awards, the Company assesses the probability of the achievement of the awards during the year and recognizes expense accordingly.

The following is a summary of restricted stock activity during years 2023, 2022 and 2021:

	Number of
	shares
Unvested Balance, December 31, 2020	357,342
Awarded	109,462
Vested	(162,419)
Forfeited	(10,808)
Unvested Balance, December 31, 2021	293,577
Awarded	182,497
Vested	(156,847)
Forfeited	(14,280)
Unvested Balance, December 31, 2022	304,947
Awarded	129,328
Vested	(154,208)
Forfeited	(25,957)
Unvested Balance, December 31, 2023	254,110

Share-Based Compensation Expense

During 2023, 2022 and 2021 compensation expense net of forfeitures of $5,477, $5,073 and $4,161 was recorded, respectively. As of December 31, 2023, there was $6,876 of total unrecognized compensation expense related to restricted stock awards, of which approximately $4,890 is expected to be recognized in 2024.

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 2023, 2022, and 2021) or ii) the annual interest payable on any loan outstanding to the Company from the ESOP. Company contributions to the Plan accrued for 2023, 2022 and 2021, were $1,591, $1,248, and $1,206, respectively. These amounts are included in general and administrative costs in the consolidated statements of income and comprehensive income.

Defined Contribution Plan

The Company sponsors the Allient 401(k) Tax Advantaged Investment Plan (“401(k)”) which covers substantially all its U.S. based employees. The plan provides for the deferral of employee compensation under Section 401(k) and a discretionary Company match. In 2023, 2022, and 2021 this match was 100% per dollar of the first 3% of participant deferral and 50% per dollar of the next 2% contribution, up to 4% of a total 5% participant deferral. Net costs related to this defined contribution plan were $2,590, $2,146, and $1,672 in 2023, 2022, and 2021, respectively. These amounts are included in general and administrative costs in the consolidated statements of income and comprehensive income.

Dividends

For the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021 a total of $0.115, $0.100, and $0.095 per share on all outstanding shares was declared and paid, respectively. Total dividends paid for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021 were $1,826, $1,536, and $1,371, respectively. Based on the terms of the Company’s Credit Agreement, dividends paid to shareholders are acceptable, subject to the Company’s compliance with the covenants under the Credit Agreement.