9. STOCK-BASED COMPENSATION

Summary of Equity Plans and Activity

In March 2008, the Company's shareholders approved the 2008 Stock Option Plan (the “Plan”) to replace the 1997 Outside Director Stock Option Plan and the 1997 Employee Stock Option Plan. The purpose of the Plan was to promote our long-term interests by providing a means of attracting and retaining officers, directors and key employees. The Compensation Committee administered the Plan and approved the particular officers, directors or employees eligible for grants. Under the Plan, employees were granted the option to purchase our common shares at fair market value on the day prior to the date of the grant. Generally, options granted vest and become exercisable in three equal installments commencing one year from date of grant and expire upon the earlier of the employee’s termination of employment with us, or ten years from the date of grant.

In March 2018, the Company's shareholders approved the amendment and restatement of the Plan in the form of the Amended and Restated 2018 Equity Incentive Plan and in March 2020 the shareholders approved a further amendment to increase the number of shares issuable under the amended and restated plan by 700 and to make corresponding changes to the number of shares issuable as incentive options and as restricted stock or pursuant to restricted stock units (as amended, the "Equity Plan"). The Company currently grants equity awards from the Equity Plan. The purpose of the Equity Plan is to promote our long-term interests by providing a means of attracting and retaining officers, directors and key employees. The maximum number of new common shares that may be granted under the Equity Plan is 700 shares plus the remaining shares from the 2008 Stock Option Plan. At September 30, 2020, 814 shares remained available for grants under the Plan.

In fiscal 2020, 152 options were granted to employees and independent directors. In fiscal 2019, 503 options were granted to employees and independent directors. The weighted-average assumptions used to compute the fair value of options granted for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2020 and 2019 were as follows:


	2020		2019
Risk-free interest rate	1.36	%	2.47	%
Dividend yield	0.00	%	0.00	%
Volatility of the expected market price of the Company’s common shares	76.56	%	72.14	%
Expected life of the options (years)	5.95		5.95

A summary of our stock option activity for all options and related information for the year ended September 30, 2020, is as follows (in thousands except for share prices):


				Weighted-
		Weighted-		Average
		Average		Remaining	Aggregate
	Options	Exercise		Contractual	Intrinsic
	(shares)	Price		Life	Value

Outstanding - October 1, 2019	776	$	1.61	7.98	$	1,536
Exercised	(154)	$	1.56
Granted	152	$	4.56
Forfeited	(62)	$	2.05
Outstanding - September 30, 2020	712	$	2.21	7.59	$	1,939

Exercisable at September 30, 2020	281	$	1.64	6.38	$	922

The aggregate intrinsic value is the product of the total options outstanding and the net positive difference of our common share price on September 30, 2020 and the options’ exercise price. The total intrinsic value of stock options exercised for fiscal years ended September 30, 2020 and 2019 were $562 and $19, respectively. The weighted average estimated fair value of stock options granted for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2020 and 2019 were $3.11 and $1.09 per stock option, respectively. As of September 30, 2020, our total unrecognized compensation cost related to non-vested stock options was $545 and is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average service period of 2.0 years.

During the year ended September 30, 2020, the Company granted a total of 126 shares to officers, outside directors and employees. A summary of our restricted share activity for the year ended September 30, 2020 is as follows:


			Weighted-
			Average Grant
	Restricted Shares		Date Fair Value

Outstanding - September 30, 2019	20	$	2.0
Granted	126	$	4.2
Unvested shares forfeited	(18)	$	4.0
Outstanding - September 30, 2020	128	$	3.9

As of September 30, 2020, our total unrecognized compensation cost related to unvested restricted stock was $326 and is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average service period of 1.4 years. The total fair value of the restricted shares granted during the year ended September 30, 2020 was $528.

Stock-based compensation expense for employee stock options and restricted stock for the years ended September 30, 2020 and 2019 was $540 and $278, respectively.