Note 19 - Equity Incentive Plans

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2019

Notes to Financial Statements

Share-based Payment Arrangement [Text Block]

19. Equity Incentive Plans

Pursuant to the Company’s 2005 Incentive Plan, as amended and restated in May 2015, the Company may grant incentive stock options (employees only), non-statutory stock options, common stock awards, restricted stock, RSUs, stock appreciation rights and cash awards to non-employee directors and eligible employees. Cash received from exercises of stock options totaled zero in 2019, $838 thousand for 35,880 shares in 2018, and $1.1 million for 46,790 shares in 2017. Aggregate intrinsic value for options exercised was zero in 2019 compared to $718,000 in 2018.

A summary of stock option activity for 2019, 2018, and 2017 follows:

						Weighted-Average		Aggregate
				Weighted-Average		Remaining Contractual		Intrinsic
	Shares			Exercise Price		Life (in years)		Value (in thousands)
Balance, December 31, 2016		82,670			23.37		1.10	$	1,211
Exercised		(46,790	)	$	23.37
Balance, December 31, 2017		35,880			23.37		0.10	$	675
Exercised		(35,880	)	$	23.37
Balance, December 31, 2018		—			—		—	$	—
Balance, December 31, 2019		—			—		—	$	—

At December 31, 2019, 2,398,672 shares were available under the 2005 Incentive Plan for future grants.

In addition to stock options, the Company also grants restricted stock units (“RSUs”) that are generally granted at no cost to the recipient. RSUs generally vest ratably over three years or cliff vest after one or three years of continued employment from the date of the grant. While a portion of RSUs may be time-vesting awards, others may vest subject to the attainment of specified performance goals and are referred to as “performance-based RSUs.” All RSUs are subject to forfeiture until vested.

Performance-based RSUs are granted at the target amount of awards. Based on the Company’s attainment of specified performance goals and consideration of market conditions, the number of shares that vest can be adjusted to a minimum of zero and to a maximum of 150% of the target. The amount of performance-based RSUs that are eligible to vest is determined at the end of each performance period and is then added together to determine the total number of performance shares that are eligible to vest. Performance-based RSUs generally cliff vest three years from the date of grant.

Compensation costs for the time-based awards are based on the quoted market price of the Company’s stock at the grant date. Compensation costs associated with performance-based RSUs are based on grant date fair value, which considers both market and performance conditions. Compensation costs of both time-based and performance-based awards are recognized on a straight-line basis from the grant date until the vesting date of each grant.

The following table presents RSU activity for 2019, 2018, and 2017:

	Time-Based RSUs					Performance-Based RSUs
				Weighted-Average					Weighted-Average
				Grant Date					Grant Date
	Shares			Fair Value		Shares			Fair Value
Balance at December 31, 2016		152,476			28.89		574,943			28.96
Granted		87,781			38.59		159,264			40.36
Vested		(1,167	)		38.03		(394,335	)		39.96
Forfeited		(17,352	)		33.10		—			—
Balance at December 31, 2017		221,738			32.72		339,872			33.52
Granted		141,810			43.30		55,455			39.46
Vested		(65,721	)		41.59		(121,336	)		37.87
Forfeited		(13,334	)		35.96		(8,332	)		0.30
Balance at December 31, 2018		284,493			35.79		265,659			32.90
Granted		108,925			36.37		124,586			36.37
Vested		(93,729	)		35.14		(92,501	)		38.36
Forfeited		(26,489	)		39.34		—			—
Balance at December 31, 2019		273,200			35.90		297,744			32.65

The compensation expense recorded for RSUs was $6.6 million in 2019, $7.3 million in 2018, and $5.2 million in 2017. Unrecognized stock-based compensation expense related to RSUs was $9.3 million and $9.8 million as of December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively. As of December 31, 2019, these costs are expected to be recognized over the next 1.9 years.

The Company adopted ASU 2016-09 in 2017, pursuant to which all excess tax benefits and tax deficiencies from share based payments are recognized as income tax expense or benefit in the income statement instead of the previous accounting, which credited excess tax benefits to additional paid-in capital and tax deficiencies as a charge to income tax expense or as an offset to accumulated excess tax benefits, if any.