Share Based Compensation

3 Months Ended

Apr. 30, 2017

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 three months ended April 30, 2017 and April 30, 2016.

Stock Option Awards

The Company granted 85,800 and 274,200 non-qualified stock options during the three-month periods ended April 30, 2017 and April 30, 2016, respectively. Options are granted with exercise prices based upon the closing market price of the Company's common stock on the day prior to 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, as well as termination without cause provisions for certain executive officers, which 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:



	Three Months Ended
	April 30, 2017		April 30, 2016
Risk-free interest rate	1.68	%	1.05	%
Expected dividend yield	1.78	%	3.33	%
Expected volatility factor	33.87	%	32.61	%
Expected option term (in years)	4.25		4.00

Weighted average grant date fair value	$7.35		$3.05

Restricted Stock Unit Awards (RSUs)

The Company granted 53,325 and 66,370 time-vested RSUs to employees in the three-month periods ended April 30, 2017 and 2016, respectively. 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 April 30, 2017 and 2016 was $29.20 and $15.61, 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, as well as termination without cause provisions for certain executive officers, which 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 three-month periods ended April 30, 2017 and 2016, respectively. 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, as well as termination without cause provisions for certain executive officers, which 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 three-month periods ended April 30, 2017 and 2016, the Company granted 22,745 and 72,950 performance-based RSUs, respectively. The weighted average grant date fair value per share of these performance-based RSUs was $29.20 and $15.61, respectively.

- 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.

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