Equity Incentive and Employee Benefit Plans

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2023

Share-Based Payment Arrangement [Abstract]

Equity Incentive and Employee Benefit Plans

Equity Incentive and Employee Benefit Plans

A summary of our equity incentive plans, restated as applicable for stock dividends, follows.

Employee Equity Incentive Plans. On April 27, 2011, our shareholders approved the M.D.C Holdings, Inc. 2011 Equity Incentive Plan (the “2011 Equity Incentive Plan”) which provided for the grant of non-qualified stock options, incentive stock options, stock appreciation rights, restricted stock, restricted stock units and other equity awards to employees of the Company. Stock options granted under the 2011 Equity Incentive Plan had an exercise price that is at least equal to the fair market value of our common stock on the date the stock option is granted, generally vested in periods up to five years and expired ten years after the date of grant. On April 27, 2021, the 2011 Equity Incentive Plan terminated and awards outstanding at the time the plan terminated remain outstanding in accordance with the terms and conditions of the plan and award agreement. There are 1.4 million remaining shares of MDC common stock reserved for awards under the 2011 Equity Incentive Plan as of December 31, 2023.

On April 26, 2021, our shareholders approved the M.D.C Holdings, Inc. 2021 Equity Incentive Plan (the "2021 Equity Incentive Plan") which provides for the grant of non-qualified stock options, incentive stock options, stock appreciation rights, restricted stock, restricted stock units and other stock-based and cash awards to employees of the Company. Stock options granted under the 2021 Equity Incentive Plan have an exercise price that is at least equal to the fair market value of our common stock on the date the stock option is granted, generally vest in periods up to five years and expire ten years after the date of grant. On April 17, 2023, our shareholders approved the First Amendment to the M.D.C. Holdings, Inc. 2021 Equity Incentive Plan, which increased the number of shares of Common Stock available under the plan by an additional 3.0 million shares. At December 31, 2023, a total of 5.6 million shares of MDC common stock were reserved for issuance under the 2021 Equity Incentive Plan, of which 2.2 million shares remained available for grant under this plan as of December 31, 2023.

Director Equity Incentive Plans. Effective April 27, 2011, our shareholders approved the M.D.C. Holdings, Inc. 2011 Stock Option Plan for Non-Employee Directors (the “2011 Director Stock Option Plan”), which provided for the grant of non-qualified stock options to non-employee directors of the Company. Effective March 29, 2016, our shareholders approved an amendment to the 2011 Director Stock Option Plan to provide the non-employee directors with an alternative to elect to receive an award of restricted stock in lieu of a stock option. Pursuant to the 2011 Director Stock Option Plan as amended, on August 1 of each year, each non-employee director was granted either (1) an option to purchase 25,000 shares of MDC common stock or

(2) shares of restricted stock having an expense to the Company that is equivalent to the stock option. Effective April 20, 2020, our shareholders approved an amendment and restatement of the 2011 Director Stock Option Plan to (1) rename the 2011 Director Stock Option Plan as the M.D.C. Holdings, Inc. 2020 Equity Plan for Non-Employee Directors (such amended and restated 2011 Director Plan, the "2020 Director Equity Plan"), (2) increase the number of shares covered by the annual grant of each stock option to 33,067 shares (without increasing the total number of shares authorized under the plan) to reflect, on a going forward basis, the stock dividends declared by the Company, (3) provide that the number of shares covered by the annual grant shall be proportionally increased or decreased in the future for any increase or decrease in the number of shares of stock outstanding on account of any recapitalization, split, reverse split, combination, exchange, dividend or other distribution payable in shares of stock, and (4) extend the 2020 Director Equity Plan's termination date to April 20, 2030. Each option granted under the 2020 Director Equity Plan vests immediately, becomes exercisable six months after grant, and expires ten years from the date of grant. The option exercise price must be equal to the fair market value (as defined in the plan) of our common stock on the date of grant of the option. Each restricted stock award granted under the 2020 Equity Plan vests seven months after the grant date. At December 31, 2023, a total of 0.3 million shares of MDC common stock were reserved for issuance under the 2020 Director Equity Plan and 0.3 million shares remained available for grant under this plan as of December 31, 2023.

Employee Benefit Plan. We have a defined contribution plan pursuant to Section 401(k) of the Internal Revenue Code where each employee may elect to make contributions up to the current tax limits. Effective for 2018 and thereafter, we match employee contributions at a rate of 50% of the first 6% of compensation and, as of December 31, 2023, we had accrued $3.0 million related to the match that is to be contributed in the first quarter of 2024 for 2023 activity. At December 31, 2022, we had accrued $3.5 million related to the match that was contributed in the first quarter of 2023 for 2022 activity. At December 31, 2021, we had accrued $3.6 million related to the match that was contributed during the first quarter of 2022 for 2021 activity.