Stock Based Compensation

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2016

Disclosure of Compensation Related Costs, Share-based Payments [Abstract]

Disclosure of Compensation Related Costs, Share-based Payments [Text Block]

Note 19 - Stock Based Compensation

The Company maintains two stock-based compensation plans from which new grants could be issued. The Company’s stock-based compensation plans permit Parent Corporation common stock to be issued to key employees and directors of the Company and its subsidiaries. Grants under the existing plans can be in the form of stock options (qualified or non-qualified), restricted shares, or performance units. Shares available for grant and issuance under the existing plans as of December 31, 2016 are 68,516 under the 2009 Equity Incentive Plan and 234,090 shares under the North Jersey Community Bancorp Equity Compensation Plan. The Company intends to issue all shares under these plans in the form of newly issued shares.

Restricted stock and option awards typically have a three-year vesting period starting one year after the date of grant with one-third vesting each year. The options generally expire ten years from the date of grant. Restricted stock awards granted to new employees and board members may be granted with shorter vesting periods. Grants of performance units typically have a cliff vesting after three years. All issuances are subject to forfeiture if the recipient leaves or is terminated prior to the awards vesting. Restricted shares have the same dividend and voting rights as common stock, while options and performance units do not.

All awards are issued at fair value of the underlying shares at the grant date. The Company expenses the cost of the awards, which is determined to be the fair market value of the awards at the date of grant, ratably over the vesting period.

No options were granted during 2016, 2015 or 2014.

During 2016 and 2015, the Company granted to various key employees performance unit awards, with each unit entitling the holder to one share of the Company’s common stock contingent upon the Company meeting or exceeding certain return on asset targets over the course of a three-year period commencing on January 1 of the year of issuance. Under the grant agreement, and assuming the Company has met or exceeded the applicable targets, grants of performance unit awards will vest on the third anniversary of the grant date or on an earlier date in the event of a change in control, as defined in the agreements. At December 31, 2016, the specific number of shares related to performance unit awards that were expected to vest was 151,572, determined by actual performance in consideration of the established range of the performance targets, which is consistent with the level of expense currently being recognized over the vesting period. Should this expectation change, additional compensation expense could be recorded in future periods or previously recognized expense could be reversed. At December 31, 2016 the maximum amount of performance unit awards that ultimately could vest if performance targets were exceeded is 181,526 shares.

Option activity under the Company’s option plans as of and for the year ended December 31, 2016 were as follows: 

	Shares		Weighted- Average Exercise  Price		Weighted- Average Remaining  Contractual  Term (In Years)		Aggregate Intrinsic Value
Outstanding at December 31, 2015		535,906	$	6.48
Granted		-		-
Exercised		(136,429)		5.71
Forfeited/cancelled/expired		(45,010)		10.59
Outstanding at December 31, 2016		354,467	$	6.26		2.67	$	6,979,455
Exercisable at December 31, 2016		350,937	$	6.18		2.62	$	6,938,024

The aggregate intrinsic value of outstanding and exercisable options above represents the total pre-tax intrinsic value (the difference between the Company’s closing stock price on December 31, 2016 and the exercise price, multiplied by the number of in-the-money options) that would have been received by the option holders had all option holders exercised their options on December 31, 2016. This amount changes based on the fair market value of the Parent Corporation’s stock.

Information related to stock option exercises during 2016:	2016
Intrinsic value of options exercised	$	1,381,233
Cash received from options exercised		767,189
Tax benefit realized from options exercised		117,311

The aggregate intrinsic value of exercised options above represents the total pre-tax intrinsic value (the difference between the Company’s closing stock price on the date of exercise and the exercise price, multiplied by the number of in-the-money options) of all options that were exercised during the year ending December 31, 2016. The tax benefit is calculated on any non-qualified options exercised during the period using a 36% tax rate.

The below table represents information regarding restricted shares currently outstanding at December 31, 2016:

	Nonvested Shares		Weighted- Average Grant Date  Fair Value
Nonvested at December 31, 2015		96,902	$	16.81
Granted		72,920		15.88
Vested		(55,648)		16.01
Forfeited/cancelled/expired		(2,901)		19.58
Nonvested at December 31, 2016		111,273	$	16.81

As of December 31, 2016, there was $973,745 of total unrecognized compensation cost related to nonvested restricted shares granted under the plans. The cost is expected to be recognized over a weighted average period of 20.1 months.

A summary of the status of unearned performance unit awards and the change during the period is presented in the table below:

	Units (expected)		Units (maximum)			Weighted- Average Grant Date  Fair Value
Unearned at December 31, 2015		94,585		113,502	$	19.46
Awarded		64,434		77,3206		17.01
Forfeited		(7,447)		(9,296)		19.46
Expired		-		-		-
Unearned at December 31, 2016		151,572		181,526	$	18.47

At December 31, 2016, compensation cost of $1,237,533 related to nonvested awards not yet recognized is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of 1.4 years.