STOCK-BASED COMPENSATION

3 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2018

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

Refer to our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2018 for a full description of our existing stock-based compensation plans.

Restricted Stock Units

We issue restricted stock units (RSUs) to certain officers and key employees of the Company. The fair value of the RSUs is based on the price of our common stock as reported on the NASDAQ Global Market on the grant dates. The typical annual grant vests over a three-year period from the date of issuance and is a blend of time-based and performance-based shares. The portion of the grant that is time-based typically vests over a three-year period on each anniversary of the grant date, based on continued employment. The performance-based shares vest based on the three-year earnings performance of the Company following the grant date. At December 31, 2018, there were 207,483 RSUs outstanding. The RSUs do not have voting rights but do receive dividend equivalents upon vesting; additionally, the shares of common stock underlying the RSUs are not considered issued and outstanding until vested and common stock is issued.

RSU activity (number of shares) for the three months ended December 31, 2018 is summarized below:



	Number of Restricted Stock Units		Weighted Average Fair Value Per Share
Outstanding at September 30, 2018	190,500		$	33.73
Granted	79,050		35.14
Vested	(62,067	)	30.52
Outstanding at December 31, 2018	207,483		$	34.74

During the three months ended December 31, 2018 and 2017, we recorded compensation expense of $1.2 million and $1.0 million, respectively, related to the RSUs.

Restricted Stock

Each non-employee director receives 2,000 restricted shares of the Company’s common stock annually. Fifty-percent of the restricted stock granted to each of our non-employee directors vests immediately, while the remaining fifty-percent vests on the anniversary of the grant date. Compensation expense is recognized immediately for the first fifty-percent of the restricted stock granted, while compensation expense for the remaining fifty-percent is recognized over the remaining vesting period based on the closing price per share on the grant date. During the three months ended December 31, 2018 and 2017, there were no restricted shares granted. During the three months ended December 31, 2018 and 2017, we recorded compensation expense of less than $0.1 million and $0.1 million, respectively, related to restricted stock.