Employee Benefit Plans

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2021

Share-based Payment Arrangement, Noncash Expense [Abstract]

Restricted Shares, Restricted Stock Units, Performance Share Units

The Company records compensation expense with respect to restricted shares, restricted stock units and performance share units in an amount equal to the fair value of the common stock covered by each award on the date of grant. These awards become fully vested after various periods of continued employment from the respective dates of grant. The Company is entitled to an income tax deduction in an amount equal to the taxable income reported by the holders of the restricted shares when the restrictions are released and the shares are issued. Compensation is being charged to expense over the respective vesting periods.

Restricted shares are forfeited if the awardee officer or employee terminates his employment with the Company prior to the lapsing of restrictions. The Company records forfeitures of restricted stock as treasury share repurchases and any compensation cost previously recognized is reversed in the period of forfeiture. Recipients of restricted shares do not pay any cash consideration to the Company for the shares, and, except for restricted stock units and performance share units, have the right to vote all shares subject to such grant and receive all dividends with respect to such shares, whether or not the shares have vested. For restricted shares and performance share units that have performance-based criteria, management has evaluated those criteria and has determined that, as of March 31, 2021, the criteria were probable of being met.

A summary of the Company’s restricted shares activity and related information is presented below:


	Three months ended March 31,
	2021			2020
	Restricted Awards	Average Market Price at Grant		Restricted Awards	Average Market Price at Grant
Outstanding at January 1	158,554	$	67.40	148,083	$	62.62
Granted	20,536	70.66		23,028	70.36
Forfeited	—	71.43		—	—
Vested	(36,685)	66.32		(24,910)	50.42
Outstanding at March 31	142,405	$	67.88	146,201	$	65.91

Information regarding stock-based compensation associated with restricted shares is provided in the following table (in thousands):


	Three months ended March 31,
		2021		2020
Stock-based compensation expense associated with restricted shares		$	783	$	629

At period-end:		March 31, 2021
Unrecognized stock-based compensation expense associated with restricted shares		$	5,310
Weighted average period (in years) in which the above amount is expected to be recognized		2.9

Shares issued in conjunction with restricted stock awards are issued from available treasury shares. If no treasury shares are available, new shares would be issued from available authorized shares. During the three months ended March 31, 2021 and 2020, all shares issued in connection with restricted stock awards were issued from available treasury stock.

Benefit Plans

The Company provides retirement benefits to its employees through the City Holding Company 401(k) Plan and Trust (the “401(k) Plan”), which is intended to be compliant with Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) section 404(c). The Company also maintains a frozen defined benefit pension plan (the “Defined Benefit Plan”), which was inherited from the Company's acquisition of the plan sponsor (Horizon Bancorp, Inc.).

The following table presents the components of the Company's net periodic benefit cost, which is included in the line item "other expenses" in the consolidated statements of income, (in thousands):


	Three months ended March 31,
		2021		2020
Components of net periodic cost:
Interest cost		$	83	$	112
Expected return on plan assets		(205)		(203)
Net amortization and deferral		280		272
Net Periodic Pension Cost		$	158	$	181