Employee Benefit Plans

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2017

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

Employee Benefit Plans

Employee Benefit Plans

Long-Term Incentive Stock-Based Plan 

As of March 31, 2017, there were 2.4 million shares of our common stock available for issuance under our active long-term incentive stock-based plan, the 2005 Long-Term Incentive Plan, as amended and restated (the “2005 Incentive Plan”). During the three-month period ended March 31, 2017, the following grants of share-based awards were made under the 2005 Incentive Plan: 

Date of Grant	Shares	Grant Date Fair Value Per Share		Vesting Period
January 3, 2017 (1)	671,771	$	8.82	33% per year over three years
January 3, 2017 (2)	671,771	$	12.64	100% on January 1, 2020
January 3, 2017 (3)	9,956	$	8.82	100% on January 1, 2019

(1) Reflects the grant of restricted stock to our executive officers and select management employees.

(2) Reflects the grant of performance share units (“PSUs”) to our executive officers and select management employees. The PSUs provide for an award based on the performance of our common stock over a three-year period with the maximum amount of the award being 200% of the original awarded PSUs and the minimum amount being zero. For the 2017 awards, vested PSUs can only be settled in shares of our common stock.

(3) Reflects the grant of restricted stock to certain independent members of our Board of Directors (the “Board”) who have made an election to take their quarterly fees in stock in lieu of cash.

Compensation cost for restricted stock is the product of grant date fair value of each share and the number of shares granted and is recognized over the applicable vesting periods on a straight-line basis. We elected to account for forfeitures when they occur upon the adoption of the new guidance for employee share-based payment accounting (Note 1). For the three-month periods ended March 31, 2017 and 2016, $2.0 million and $1.4 million, respectively, were recognized as share-based compensation related to restricted stock.

The estimated fair value of PSUs is determined using a Monte Carlo simulation model. Compensation cost for PSUs that are accounted for as equity awards is measured based on the estimated grant date fair value and recognized over the vesting period on a straight-line basis. PSUs that are accounted for as liability awards are measured based on the estimated fair value at the balance sheet date and changes in fair value of the awards are recognized in earnings. Cumulative compensation cost for vested liability PSU awards equals the actual cash payout amount upon vesting. The 2017 awards are accounted for as equity awards whereas awards made prior to 2017 are accounted for as liability awards. For the three-month periods ended March 31, 2017 and 2016, $2.2 million and $1.0 million, respectively, were recognized as share-based compensation related to PSUs. The liability balance for unvested PSUs was $8.0 million at March 31, 2017 and $7.1 million at December 31, 2016. We paid $0.6 million in cash to settle the 2014 grant of PSUs when they vested in January 2017.

Employee Stock Purchase Plan 

We have an employee stock purchase plan (the “ESPP”). The ESPP has 1.5 million shares authorized for issuance, of which 0.7 million shares were available for issuance as of March 31, 2017. In February 2016, we suspended ESPP purchases for the January through April 2016 purchase period and indefinitely imposed a purchase limit of 130 shares per employee for subsequent purchase periods.

For more information regarding our employee benefit plans, including our long-term incentive stock-based and cash plans and our employee stock purchase plan, see Note 12 to our 2016 Form 10-K.