Note 21: Stock Option Plan

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2015

Notes

Note 21: Stock Option Plan

Note 21:    Stock Compensation Plans

The Company established the 2003 Stock Option and Incentive Plan (the “2003 Plan”) for employees and directors of the Company and its subsidiaries.  Under the plan, stock options or other awards could be granted with respect to 598,224 shares of common stock.  On May 15, 2013, the Company’s stockholders approved the Great Southern Bancorp, Inc. 2013 Equity Incentive Plan (the “2013 Plan”).  Upon the stockholders’ approval of the 2013 Plan, the Company’s 2003 Plan was frozen.  As a result, no new stock options or other awards may be granted under the 2003 Plan; however, existing outstanding awards under the 2003 Plan were not affected.  At December 31, 2015, 265,182 options were outstanding under the 2003 Plan.

The 2013 Plan provides for the grant from time to time to directors, emeritus directors, officers, employees and advisory directors of stock options, stock appreciation rights and restricted stock awards.  The number of shares of Common Stock available for awards under the 2013 Plan is 700,000, all of which may be utilized for stock options and stock appreciation rights and no more than 100,000 of which may be utilized for restricted stock awards.  At December 31, 2015, 368,550 options were outstanding under the 2013 Plan.

Stock options may be either incentive stock options or nonqualified stock options, and the option price must be at least equal to the fair value of the Company’s common stock on the date of grant.  Options generally are granted for a 10 year term and generally become exercisable in four cumulative annual installments of 25% commencing two years from the date of grant.  The Stock Option Committee may accelerate a participant’s right to purchase shares under the plan.

Stock awards may be granted to key officers and employees upon terms and conditions determined solely at the discretion of the Stock Option Committee.

The table below summarizes transactions under the Company’s stock option plans:

			Weighted
	Available to Grant	Shares Under Option	Average Exercise Price
Balance, January 1, 2013	326,622	733,292	$24.227
Granted from 2003 plan	(3,100)	3,100	23.957
Exercised	--	(106,367)	19.687
Forfeited from terminated plan(s)	46,818	(46,818)	27.202
Termination of 2003 Plan	(370,340)	--
	--	583,207
Available to grant from 2013 Plan	700,000	--
Granted from 2013 Plan	(116,500)	116,500	29.515
Balance, December 31, 2013	583,500	699,707	25.597
Granted from 2013 plan	(147,400)	147,400	32.450
Exercised	--	(153,287)	27.088
Forfeited from terminated plan(s)	--	(22,022)	27.387
Forfeited from current plan(s)	10,700	(10,700)	30.204
Balance, December 31, 2014	446,800	661,098	26.560
Granted from 2013 Plan	(129,350)	129,350	49.199
Exercised	--	(134,263)	25.403
Forfeited from terminated plan(s)	--	(8,453)	24.941
Forfeited from current plan(s)	14,000	(14,000)	33.389
Balance, December 31, 2015	331,450	633,732	$31.297

The Company’s stock option grants contain terms that provide for a graded vesting schedule whereby portions of the options vest in increments over the requisite service period.  These options typically vest one-fourth at the end of years two, three, four and five from the grant date.  As provided for under FASB ASC 718, the Company has elected to recognize compensation expense for options with graded vesting schedules on a straight-line basis over the requisite service period for the entire option grant.  In addition, ASC 718 requires companies to recognize compensation expense based on the estimated number of stock options for which service is expected to be rendered.  The Company’s historical forfeitures of its share-based awards have not been material.

The fair value of each option award is estimated on the date of the grant using the Black-Scholes option pricing model with the following assumptions for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013:

	2015	2014	2013
Expected dividends per share	$0.88	$0.80	$0.72
Risk-free interest rate	1.66%	1.40%	1.53%
Expected life of options	5 years	5 years	5 years
Expected volatility	24.42%	18.95%	24.80%
Weighted average fair value of
options granted during year	$9.59	$4.20	$5.22

Expected volatilities are based on the historical volatility of the Company’s stock, based on the monthly closing stock price.  The expected term of options granted is based on actual historical exercise behavior of all employees and directors and approximates the graded vesting period of the options.  Expected dividends are based on the annualized dividends declared at the time of the option grant.  The risk-free interest rate is based on the five-year treasury rate on the grant date of the options.

The following table presents the activity related to options under all plans for the year ended December 31, 2015:

			Weighted
		Weighted	Average
		Average	Remaining
		Exercise	Contractual
	Options	Price	Term
Options outstanding, January 1, 2015	661,098	$26.560	6.72 years
Granted	129,350	49.199
Exercised	(134,263)	25.403
Forfeited	(22,453)	30.208
Options outstanding, December 31, 2015	633,732	31.297	7.22 years
Options exercisable, December 31, 2015	221,568	23.518	4.72 years

For the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013, options granted were 129,350, 147,400, and 119,600, respectively.  The total intrinsic value (amount by which the fair value of the underlying stock exceeds the exercise price of an option on exercise date) of options exercised during the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013, was $2.3 million, $932,000 and $858,000, respectively.  Cash received from the exercise of options for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013, was $3.4 million, $2.4 million and $1.2 million, respectively.  The actual tax benefit realized for the tax deductions from option exercises totaled $2.1 million, $858,000 and $764,000 for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013, respectively.

The following table presents the activity related to nonvested options under all plans for the year ended December 31, 2015. 

		Weighted	Weighted
		Average	Average
		Exercise	Grant Date
	Options	Price	Fair Value
Nonvested options, January 1, 2015	390,047	$28.148	$4.480
Granted	129,350	49.199	9.586
Vested this period	(87,349)	24.299	4.591
Nonvested options forfeited	(19,884)	30.051	4.946
Nonvested options, December 31, 2015	412,164	35.479	6.039

At December 31, 2015, there was $2.3 million of total unrecognized compensation cost related to nonvested options granted under the Company’s plans.  This compensation cost is expected to be recognized through 2020, with the majority of this expense recognized in 2016 and 2017. 

The following table further summarizes information about stock options outstanding at December 31, 2015:

	Options Outstanding
		Weighted		Options Exercisable
		Average	Weighted		Weighted
		Remaining	Average		Average
Range of	Number	Contractual	Exercise	Number	Exercise
Exercise Prices	Outstanding	Term	Price	Exercisable	Price
$8.360 to $19.530	80,449	5.50 years	$17.834	57,639	$17.281
$21.320 to $24.820	129,593	6.02 years	23.694	82,473	23.094
$25.480 to $29.860	138,770	6.55 years	28.632	57,586	27.408
$30.660 to $39.050	169,570	7.69 years	32.628	23,870	30.660
$41.500 to $50.710	115,350	9.88 years	50.478	--	--
	633,732	7.22 years	31.297	221,568	23.518