Share Based Compensation

6 Months Ended

Jul. 31, 2016

SHARE-BASED COMPENSATION

The Company reserves shares for issuance pursuant to the Amended and Restated 2010 Stock Incentive Plan effective March 23, 2012, administered by the Personnel and Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors. Two types of awards, stock options and restricted stock units, were granted during the six months ended July 31, 2016 and July 31, 2015.

Stock Option Awards

The Company granted 274,200 non-qualified stock options during the six-month period ended July 31, 2016. None of these options were granted during the three-months ended July 31, 2016. The Company granted 9,400 and 289,600 non-qualified stock options during the three- and six-month periods ended July 31, 2015, respectively. Options are granted with exercise prices not less than the market value of the Company's common stock at the date of grant. The stock options vest over a four-year period and expire after five years. Options contain retirement and change-in-control provisions that may accelerate the vesting period. The fair value of each option grant is estimated on the date of grant using the Black-Scholes option pricing model. The Company uses historical data to estimate option exercises and employee terminations within this valuation model.

The weighted average assumptions used for the Black-Scholes option pricing model by grant year are as follows:



	Six Months Ended
	July 31, 2016		July 31, 2015
Risk-free interest rate	1.05	%	1.33	%
Expected dividend yield	3.33	%	2.59	%
Expected volatility factor	32.61	%	36.81	%
Expected option term (in years)	4.00		3.75

Weighted average grant date fair value	$3.05		$4.77

Restricted Stock Unit Awards (RSUs)

The Company granted 66,370 and 19,250 time-vested RSUs to employees in the six-month periods ended July 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively. None of these awards were granted during the three-month periods ended July 31, 2016 or July 31, 2015. The grant date fair value of a time-vested RSU is measured based upon the closing market price of the Company's common stock on the day prior to the date of grant. The grant date fair value per share of the time-vested RSUs granted in the three months ended July 31, 2016 and 2015 was $15.61 and $20.10, respectively. Time-vested RSUs will vest if, at the end of the three-year period, the employee remains employed by the Company. RSUs contain retirement and change-in-control provisions that may accelerate the vesting period. Dividends are cumulatively earned on the time-vested RSUs over the vesting period.

The Company also granted performance-based RSUs in the six-month period ended July 31, 2016. The exact number of performance shares to be issued will vary from 0% to 150% of the target award, depending on the Company's actual performance over the three-year period in comparison to the target award. The target award for the fiscal 2017 and 2016 grants are based on return on equity (ROE), which is defined as net income divided by the average of beginning and ending shareholders' equity. The performance-based RSUs will vest if, at the end of the three-year performance period, the Company has achieved certain performance goals and the employee remains employed by the Company. RSUs contain retirement and change-in-control provisions that may accelerate the vesting period. Dividends are cumulatively earned on performance-based RSUs over the vesting period. The number of RSUs that will vest is determined by an estimated ROE target over the three-year performance period. The estimated ROE performance factors used to estimate the number of restricted stock units expected to vest are evaluated at least quarterly. The number of restricted stock units issued at the vesting date will be based on actual results.

The fair value of the performance-based restricted stock units is based upon the closing market price of the Company's common stock on the day prior to the grant date. The number of performance-based RSUs granted is based on 100% of the target award. During the six-month periods ended July 31, 2016 and 2015, the Company granted 72,950 and 68,570 performance-based RSUs, respectively. No performance-based RSUs were granted in the three-month period ended July 31, 2016. 2,240 performance-based RSUs were granted in the three-month period ended July 31, 2015. The weighted average grant date fair value per share of the performance-based RSUs granted in the periods ended July 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively, was $15.61 and $20.10.

- Definition

The entire disclosure for compensation-related costs for equity-based compensation, which may include disclosure of policies, compensation plan details, allocation of equity compensation, incentive distributions, equity-based arrangements to obtain goods and services, deferred compensation arrangements, employee stock ownership plan details and employee stock purchase plan details.

+ References + Details