Note 15 - Stock Based Compensation

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2016

Notes to Financial Statements

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

15.           Stock Based Compensation

We account for share-based awards in accordance with ASC 718, which requires the fair value of stock-based compensation awards to be amortized as an expense over the vesting period. Stock-based compensation awards are valued at fair value on the date of grant. The following table sets forth share-based award expense activity for the three and six months ended June 30, 2016 and 2015:

	Three Months Ended				Six Months Ended
	June 30,				June 30,
	2016		2015		2016		2015
	(Dollars in thousands)
Stock option grant expense	$	2,643	$	1,123	$	5,293	$	1,499
Restricted stock awards expense		533		593		870		1,092
Total stock based compensation	$	3,176	$	1,716	$	6,163	$	2,591

On May 18, 2015, the Company granted a non-qualified stock option to each of the Chief Executive Officer and the Chief Operating Officer for 1,000,000 shares of common stock under the Company’s 2011 Equity Incentive Plan. The terms of each option provide that, over a five year period, one third of the option shares will vest as of each of the third, fourth, and fifth anniversary dates of the grant of the option; provided that all unvested option shares will vest immediately in the event the closing price of the Company’s stock, as reported by the New York Stock Exchange, in any 20 out of 30 consecutive trading days closes at a price equal to or greater than 120% of the closing price on the date of grant (the “market-based condition”). The option exercise price is equal to the closing price of the Company’s common stock on the date of grant, which was $28.45 and the expiration date of each option is May 18, 2025. In accordance with ASC 718, the market-based awards were assigned a fair value of $5.62 per share (total value of $11.2 million) on the date of grant using a Monte Carlo simulation model and, as calculated under that model, all expense was to be recorded on a straight-line basis through the end of the 2016 second quarter. Included in the stock based compensation expense f

or the three and six months ended June 30, 2016, shown

in the table above, was

$2.5 million and $5.0 million, respectively, of stock option grant expense related to these market-based option grants.

For the same periods in the prior year, $1.2 million of stock option grant compensation expense was related to these market-based option grants.