Shareholders' Equity

12 Months Ended

Apr. 30, 2022

Equity [Abstract]

Shareholders' Equity

Shareholders’ Equity

Except for the election or removal of directors and class votes as required by law or our Articles of Incorporation, holders of both classes of common stock vote as a single class on all matters, with each Class A common share entitled to cast one-tenth vote per share and each Class B common share entitled to cast one vote per share. Neither class has cumulative voting rights. Holders of Class A common shares, as a class, are entitled to elect 25% of the board of directors (rounded up to the nearest whole number of directors) if the number of outstanding Class A common shares is at least 10% of the number of outstanding shares of both classes of common stock. No cash or property dividend may be paid to holders of Class B common shares during any fiscal year of the Company unless a dividend of $0.05 per share has been paid in such year on each outstanding Class A common share. This $0.05 per share annual dividend preference is noncumulative. Dividends per Class B common share during any fiscal year may not exceed dividends paid per Class A common share during such year. Each Class B common share is convertible at any time into one Class A common share at the option of the shareholder.

Stock Option Plans

As of April 30, 2022, the Company has outstanding stock options granted pursuant to two stock option plans. The 2011 Equity Compensation Plan (the “2011 Plan”) which was effective as of May 17, 2010, and the 2020 Equity Compensation Plan (the "2020 Plan") which was effective as of August 21, 2019. The 2020 Plan reserves for issuance 6,250,000 shares of Class A Common Stock.

Under the 2020 Plan, options to purchase Class A common shares are granted in the form of both incentive stock options and non-qualified stock options. The number of options granted under this plan is determined in each grant. By resolution of the Board of Directors, non-employee directors receive grants of non-qualified options to purchase 10,000 shares upon election and 4,000 shares at the end of each fiscal quarter. The price of such grants is equal to the closing market price of the shares on the date of grant. Options are exercisable based on the terms of such options, but no more than six years after the date of grant (or five years for incentive stock options granted to any person who owns 10% or more of the combined voting power of all classes of capital stock of the Company at the time of grant). A total of 6,250,000 shares are authorized for issuance pursuant to options granted under this Plan. Incentive and nonqualified options exercisable at April 30, 2022, 2021 and 2020 totaled 1,315,604, 900,610, and 1,086,180, respectively. Options available for grant at April 30, 2022, under the 2020 Plan were 2,902,643 shares.

A summary of changes in outstanding options for the year ended April 30, 2022 is as follows:

	Number of Shares	Weighted Average Exercise Price		Weighted Average Remaining Contractual Term (years)	Aggregate Intrinsic Value
Outstanding at May 1, 2021	4,109,733	$	13.33
Granted	1,458,500	21.54
Exercised	(776,129)	11.06
Forfeited	(245,000)	19.24
Expired	(7,000)	9.69
Outstanding at 4/30/2022*	4,540,104	$	16.05	3.7	$	10,585,462
Exercisable at April 30, 2022	1,315,604	$	13.43	2.6	$	4,945,472

*amounts adjusted for rounding    

The weighted-average grant date fair value of stock options granted during the years ended April 30, 2022, 2021, and 2020 is $6.86, $3.87, and $3.20, per share, respectively. The fair value of each option award is estimated on the date of grant using the Black-Scholes option pricing model with the following weighted-average assumptions for the years ended April 30, 2022, 2021, and 2020:

	2022		2021		2020
Dividend yield	1.7	%	2.7	%	2.8	%
Expected volatility	41.3	%	38.3	%	30.9	%
Risk-free interest rate	1.1	%	0.3	%	1.6	%
Expected term	5 years		5 years		5 years

The expected volatility is based on the historical volatility and implied volatility. The Company uses historical data to estimate stock option exercise and forfeiture rates. The expected term represents the period over which the share-based awards are expected to be outstanding and was estimated using historical data. The dividend yield is an estimate of the expected dividend yield on the Company’s stock. The risk-free rate is based on U.S. Treasury yields in effect at the time of the grant for the expected term of the stock options.

Options with graded vesting are valued as a single award. The total value of the award is expensed on a straight-line basis over the vesting period with the amount of compensation cost recognized at any date at least equal to the portion of the grant date value of the award that is vested at that date. During the years ended April 30, 2022, 2021, and 2020, we issued 776,129, 628,917, and 1,020,910 shares of common stock, respectively, resulting from the exercise of stock options. The total intrinsic value of options exercised during the years ended April 30, 2022, 2021, 2020 based on market value at the exercise dates was $10,011,055, $4,229,040, and $5,569,882 respectively. The fair value of grants vested during the years ended April 30, 2022, 2021 and 2020 was $2,800,572, $2,206,610 and $1,786,342, respectively. As of April 30, 2022, unrecognized compensation cost related to unvested stock option awards approximated $11.5 million and is expected to be recognized over a weighted average period of 1.89 years.

Stock Repurchases

On August 19, 2002, our Board of Directors approved a resolution authorizing the repurchase of up to 2.0 million shares of our Class A common stock. These repurchases have been and will be made through open market purchases at prevailing market prices. The timing of any repurchases will depend upon market conditions, the market price of our common stock and management’s assessment of our liquidity and cash flow needs. For this repurchase plan, through April 30, 2022, we have repurchased 1,053,679 shares of common stock at a cost of approximately $6.2 million. During fiscal 2022 we did not repurchase any shares. Under all repurchase plans as of April 30, 2022, we have repurchased 4,588,632 shares of common stock at a cost of approximately $25.6 million.