STOCK COMPENSATION

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2019

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

Option Awards

A summary of the Company’s stock option activity and related information for the nine months ended September 30, 2019 is as follows:


	Options		Weighted- average exercise price		Weighted- average remaining contractual life (years)	Aggregate intrinsic value
Options outstanding, January 1, 2019	1,548,825		$	13.87
Grants	296,500		9.21
Exercises	(75,000)		4.28
Cancellations	(6,750)		13.34
Expirations	(240,125)		13.93
Options outstanding, September 30, 2019	1,523,450		13.43		5.2	$	7,200
Options exercisable, September 30, 2019	1,040,172		$	14.44	3.3	$	7,200
Total unrecognized stock option expense remaining (in thousands)	$	1,554
Weighted-average years expected to be recognized over	1.6

The aggregate intrinsic value in the table above represents the total pre-tax intrinsic value that would have been received by the option holders had all option holders exercised their stock options on September 30, 2019. The intrinsic value is calculated for each in-the-money stock option as the difference between the closing price of the Company’s common stock on September 30, 2019 and the exercise price.

Restricted Stock

A summary of the Company’s restricted stock activity and related information for the nine months ended September 30, 2019 is as follows:


	Restricted Shares		Weighted- average grant date fair value
Non-vested restricted shares, January 1, 2019	326,545		$	14.63
Grants	439,747		9.25
Vested	(145,049)		14.49
Cancellations	(24,537)		13.97
Non-vested restricted shares, September 30, 2019	596,706		$	10.73
Total unrecognized compensation expense remaining (in thousands)	$	5,045
Weighted-average years expected to be recognized over	1.7

The fair value of restricted stock that vested during the nine months ended September 30, 2019 was $1.4 million.

Performance shares

Each performance award represents the right to receive up to 150% of the target number of shares of common stock. The number of shares of common stock earned will be determined based on the attainment of specified performance goals, as determined by the Compensation Committee, by the end of the performance period. The shares are subject to the terms and conditions of the Company’s Amended and Restated 2000 Long Term Incentive Plan (the “Plan”).

A summary of the Company’s performance-based award activity and related information for the nine months ended September 30, 2019 is as follows:


	Performance- based stock awards (1)		Weighted- average grant date fair value
Non-vested performance-based awards, January 1, 2019	339,287		$	14.82
Grants	158,525		9.19
Vested	(66,761)		15.69
Cancellations	(25,992)		15.44
Non-vested performance-based awards, September 30, 2019	405,059		$	12.43
Total unrecognized compensation expense remaining (in thousands)	$	2,513
Weighted-average years expected to be recognized over	1.7

(1)Represents the target number of shares to be issued for each performance-based award.

The total fair value of performance-based awards that vested during the nine months ended September 30, 2019 was $0.6 million.

At September 30, 2019, there were 320,480 shares available for awards that could be granted under the Plan, assuming maximum performance of performance-based awards.

The Company recorded stock compensation expense as follows (in thousands):


	Three Months Ended September 30,						Nine Months Ended September 30,
Stock Compensation Expense Components	2019		2018		2019		2018
Equity based stock option expense	$	206	$	152	$	454	$	559
Restricted and performance-based stock awards expense	1,292		1,116		3,130		2,468
Stock compensation expense for equity based awards	$	1,498	$	1,268	$	3,584	$	3,027
Liability based stock option expense	7				21
Total Stock Compensation Expense	$	1,505	$	1,268	$	3,605	$	3,027