20.	Incentive Plans :

The Company accounts for equity awards in accordance with FASB’s Compensation – Stock Compensation guidance which requires that all share-based payments to employees, including grants of employee stock options, restricted stock and performance shares, be recognized in the Statements of Income over the service period based on their fair values. Fair value is determined, depending on the type of award, using either the Monte Carlo method for performance shares or the Black-Scholes option pricing formula, both of which are intended to estimate the fair value of the awards at the grant date. Fair value of restricted shares is calculated based on the price on the date of grant.

The Company recognized expense associated with its equity awards of

$18.2

million,

$21.6

million and

$19.1

million, for the years ended

December 31, 2018,

2017

and

2016,

respectively. As of

December 31, 2018,

the Company had

$29.4

million of total unrecognized compensation cost related to unvested stock compensation granted under the Plans. That cost is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of

2.8

years. The Company had

8,926,449,

10,410,343

and

10,015,040

shares of the Company’s common stock available for issuance under the Plans at

December 31, 2018,

2017

and

2016,

respectively.

Stock Options

During

2018,

2017

and

2016,

the Company did

not

grant any stock options. Information with respect to stock options outstanding under the Plan for the years ended

December 31, 2018,

2017

and

2016

are as follows:

	Shares			Weighted-Average Exercise Price Per Share		Aggregate Intrinsic V alue (in millions)
Options outstanding, January 1, 2016		9,012,441		$	31.09	$	27.4
Exercised		(1,167,819	)	$	18.03	$	12.4
Forfeited		(1,830,893	)	$	39.69
Options outstanding, December 31, 2016		6,013,729		$	32.09	$	12.1
Exercised		(83,863	)	$	18.20	$	3.4
Forfeited		(2,464,920	)	$	35.91
Options outstanding, December 31, 2017		3,464,946		$	27.81	$	-
Exercised		(42,259	)	$	14.00	$	0.1
Forfeited		(1,781,321	)	$	36.53
Options outstanding, December 31, 2018		1,641,366		$	18.78	$	0.4
Options exercisable (fully vested) -
December 31, 2016		5,144,416		$	32.56	$	11.3
December 31, 2017		3,464,946		$	27.81	$	4.0
December 31, 2018		1,641,366		$	18.78	$	0.4

The exercise price per share for options outstanding as of

December 31, 2018

ranges from

$11.54

$24.12.

The Company estimates forfeitures based on historical data. As of

December 31, 2018,

all of the Company’s outstanding options were vested. The weighted-average remaining contractual life for options outstanding and exercisable as of

December 31, 2018

was

2.8

years. Cash received from options exercised under the Plan was

$0.6

million,

$1.5

million and

$21.1

million for the years ended

December 31, 2018,

2017

and

2016,

respectively.

Restricted Stock

Information with respect to restricted stock under the Plan for the years ended

December 31, 2018,

2017

and

2016

are as follows:

	201 8			201 7			201 6
Restricted stock outstanding as of January 1,		1,777,429			1,930,732			1,712,534
Granted (1)		1,100,590			646,142			756,530
Vested		(751,201	)		(783,872	)		(520,539	)
Forfeited		(21,904	)		(15,573	)		(17,793	)
Restricted stock outstanding as of December 31,		2,104,914			1,777,429			1,930,732

(

)

The weighted-average grant date fair value for restricted stock issued during the years ended

December 31, 2018,

2017

and

2016

were

$14.72,

$25.04

and

$26.15,

respectively.

Restricted shares have the same voting rights as the Company’s common stock and are entitled to a cash dividend per share equal to the Company’s common dividend which is taxable as ordinary income to the holder. For the years ended

December 31, 2018,

2017

and

2016,

the dividends paid on unvested restricted shares were

$2.8

million,

$2.4

million, and

$2.2

million, respectively.

Performance Shares

Information with respect to performance share awards under the Plan for the years ended

December 31, 2018,

2017

and

2016

are as follows:

	201 8			201 7			201 6
Performance share awards outstanding as of January 1,		235,950			197,249			202,754
Granted (1)		297,450			135,780			100,170
Vested (2)		(100,170	)		(97,079	)		(105,675	)
Performance share awards outstanding as of December 31,		433,230			235,950			197,249

(

)

The weighted-average grant date fair value for performance shares issued during the years ended

December 31, 2018,

2017

and

2016

were

$15.40,

$23.35

and

$28.60,

respectively.

(

)

For the years ended

December 31, 2018,

2017

and

2016,

the corresponding common stock equivalent of these vested awards were

and

130,080,

respectively.

The more significant assumptions underlying the determination of fair values for these performance awards granted during

2018,

2017

and

2016

were as follows:

	201 8			201 7			201 6
Stock price	$	14.99		$	24.91		$	26.29
Dividend yield (1)		0	%		0	%		0	%
Risk-free rate		2.39	%		1.45	%		0.87	%
Volatility (2)		22.90	%		18.93	%		18.80	%
Term of the award (years)		2.85			2.88			2.88

(

)

Total Shareholder Returns, as used in the performance share awards computation, are measured based on cumulative dividend stock prices, as such a

zero

percent dividend yield is utilized.

(

)

Volatility is based on the annualized standard deviation of the daily logarithmic returns on dividend-adjusted closing prices over the look-back period based on the term of the award.

Other

The Company maintains a

401

(k)-retirement plan covering substantially all officers and employees, which permits participants to defer up to the maximum allowable amount determined by the Internal Revenue Service of their eligible compensation. This deferred compensation, together with Company matching contributions, which generally equal employee deferrals up to a maximum of

of their eligible compensation, is fully vested and funded as of

December 31, 2018.

The Company’s contributions to the plan were

$2.2

million,

$2.1

million and

$2.0

million for the years ended

December 31, 2018,

2017

and

2016,

respectively.

The Company recognized severance costs associated with employee terminations during the years ended

December 31, 2018,

2017

and

2016,

$3.8

million,

$5.5

million and

$1.7

million, respectively.