14.
EMPLOYEE STOCK OWNERSHIP PLAN
 
The Company sponsors an ESOP that covers all employees with at least one year and 1,000 hours of service who are over the age of 21. Shares were released and allocated to participant accounts on or about December 31 of each year through December 2017, at which point all available shares had been released and allocated. ESOP compensation expense included in salaries and employee benefits was $148,000, $143,000 and $110,000 for the years ended March 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively. Shares held by the ESOP at March 31, 2018 totaled 498,365.
 
ESOP share activity is summarized in the following table:
 
   
Estimated Fair
Value of
Unreleased
Shares
   
Unreleased
ESOP
Shares
   
Allocated
and Released
Shares
   
Total
 
                         
Balance, March 31, 2015
 
$
332,500
     
73,899
     
888,685
     
962,584
 
Allocation December 31, 2015
           
(24,633
)
   
24,633
     
-
 
Balance, March 31, 2016
 
$
207,000
     
49,266
     
913,318
     
962,584
 
Allocation December 31, 2016
           
(24,633
)
   
24,633
     
-
 
Balance, March 31, 2017
 
$
176,000
     
24,633
     
937,951
     
962,584
 
Allocation December 31, 2017
           
(24,633
)
   
24,633
     
-
 
Balance, March 31, 2018
 
$
-
     
-
     
962,584
     
962,584
 

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.