8. Share-Based Compensation

The Company’s executive share-based compensation plan provides for various types of share-based grants, including restricted stock units and stock options. Restricted stock units give the holder the right to exchange their restricted stock units for shares of the Company’s common stock on a one-for-one basis. Stock options give the holder the right to purchase shares of the Company’s common stock at an exercise price equal to the fair value of the Company’s common stock on the date of the stock option’s award. Awards are usually subject to certain service and performance conditions and may not be sold or otherwise transferred until those restrictions have been satisfied. The term for stock options is limited to 10 years from the date of grant. As of December 31, 2015, there were 489,022 shares available to be granted under the Company’s share-based compensation plan. Many of the awards under the plan allow for the fractional earning of the entire award based on achieving separate vesting criteria for separate performance periods. The Company accounts for each fractional portion of these awards as a separate grant, with the grant date established at the date when the performance target for a given period is set and communicated to the grantee. As of December 31, 2015, there were 754,500 restricted stock units and 722,000 stock options that have been awarded, but are not yet granted.

The following table summarizes restricted stock unit and stock option activity:



	Restricted Stock Units			Stock Options
		Weighted-Average
		Grant Date			Weighted-Average
		Fair Value			Exercise/(Strike)
	Number	Per Share		Number	Price Per Share
Outstanding as of December 31, 2012	1,141,666	$	18.12	1,315,465	$	18.91
Granted	246,668		19.87	200,000		20.80
Expired or forfeited	(176,667)		13.66	(140,000)		13.04
Vested/exercised	(849,999)		19.91	(80,465)		13.16
Outstanding as of December 31, 2013	361,668	$	17.30	1,295,000	$	20.20
Granted	996,597		27.10	714,000		18.40
Expired or forfeited	(20,000)		24.77	-		-
Vested/exercised	(281,668)		16.76	(20,000)		12.54
Outstanding as of December 31, 2014	1,056,597	$	26.54	1,989,000	$	19.63
Granted	321,500		23.07	259,000		16.07
Expired or forfeited	(281,560)		23.89	(250,000)		15.97
Vested/exercised	(370,940)		27.07	-		-
Outstanding as of December 31, 2015	725,597	$	25.28	1,998,000	$	19.62

The fair value of restricted stock units that vested during 2015, 2014 and 2013 was approximately $8.0 million, $8.0 million and $17.5 million, respectively. The aggregate intrinsic value, representing the difference between the market value on the date of exercise and the option price of the stock options exercised during 2014 and 2013 was $0.3 million and $0.6 million, respectively. As of December 31, 2015, the balance of unamortized restricted stock and stock option expense was $7.5 million and $1.9 million, respectively, which will be recognized over weighted-average periods of 1.6 years for restricted stock units and 1.4 years for stock options.

The 1,998,000 outstanding stock options as of December 31, 2015 had an intrinsic value of $3.0 million and a weighted-average remaining contractual life of 4.9 years. Of those outstanding options: 1) 1,485,000 were exercisable with an intrinsic value of $1.6 million, a weighted-average exercise price of $19.57 per share and a weighted-average remaining contractual life of 4.0 years; and 2) 513,000 have been granted but have not vested, of which 483,000 are expected to vest and have an intrinsic value of $1.3 million, a weighted-average exercise price of $19.27 and a weighted-average remaining contractual life of 7.3 years.

The fair value on the grant date and the significant assumptions used in the Black-Scholes option-pricing model are as follows:



	For the Years Ended December 31,
	2015			2014			2013
Total stock options granted		259,000			714,000			200,000
Weighted-average grant date fair value	$	12.48		$	17.69		$	7.90
Weighted-average assumptions:
Risk-Free Rate		1.3	%		1.8	%		0.8	%
Expected life of options(a)		4.7			5.7			4.1
Expected volatility(b)		45.5	%		50.6	%		51.2	%
Expected quarterly dividends	$	—		$	—		$	—

(a)

Calculated using the simplified method due to the terms of the stock options and the limited pool of grantees.

(b)

Calculated using historical volatility of the Company’s common stock over periods commensurate with the expected life of the option.

The Company recognized, as part of general and administrative expense, cost for stock-based payment arrangements of $9.5 million, $18.6 million and $6.6 million for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013, respectively, with related tax benefits for those years of $4.0 million, $7.5 million and $2.6 million, respectively.