Stock-Based Compensation
The Company follows the provisions of ASC 718, “Compensation — Stock Compensation” (“ASC 718”), which requires all share-based payments to employees to be recognized in the income statement based on their grant date fair values. Compensation expense for awards with service conditions only that are subject to graded vesting is recognized on a straight-line basis over the term of the vesting period.
A summary of activity for the year ended December 31, 2024 is as follows:
Time-Based
 Number of
Shares
Weighted Average
Grant Date Fair Value
(in whole shares)
Outstanding — beginning of year755,064 $18.70 
Granted(a)
259,835 25.63 
Vested(302,474)19.41 
Cancelled or expired(36,698)18.26 
Outstanding — end of year675,727 $21.07 
(a) Included in the granted amount are 2,175 restricted share units.
The Company recognized compensation expense of $5.6 million, $6.5 million and $7.2 million for the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022, respectively, relating to stock-based awards.
The total fair value of restricted shares and share units that vested during the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022 was $5.9 million, $6.9 million and $6.5 million, respectively.
As of December 31, 2024, the Company had unrecognized compensation expense of $8.2 million related to restricted shares. The unrecognized compensation expense is expected to be recognized over a total weighted average period of 1.9 years.

Historical Timeline

Fiscal YearFiled
2024Mar 6, 2025Showing above
2018Mar 5, 2019
2017Mar 8, 2018
2016Mar 9, 2017
2015Mar 14, 2016

About Stock Compensation Disclosures

Stock-based compensation disclosures detail the equity awards granted to employees and executives — including stock options, restricted stock units (RSUs), and performance shares — along with the valuation methods and assumptions used to expense them. This section reveals the true cost of talent retention and the alignment between management incentives and shareholder interests.

Key signals: total unrecognized compensation expense and its expected recognition period signal future earnings headwinds from already-granted awards. For stock options, examine Black-Scholes assumptions — expected volatility, risk-free rate, and expected term — as understating any of these reduces reported compensation expense. Compare stock compensation expense as a percentage of revenue against peers to assess dilution cost. Watch vesting schedules for acceleration clauses tied to change-of-control events. Performance-based awards with undemanding targets may indicate weak governance. Add back stock compensation to operating cash flow to calculate a more conservative free cash flow figure.