Through December 31, 2021, the Company had been vesting a series of stock appreciation rights (SARS) to be settled in cash to certain executives. The SARS were considered liability-classified awards meaning their fair-values were remeasured at the end of each reporting period using a binomial lattice model and any changes in fair value for the vesting periods to-date were recorded through the income statement with a corresponding liability accrued on the balance sheet. Since December 31, 2021, the SARS have been exchanged for restricted stock units (RSUs) on the modification date of January 14, 2022 as approved by the Board of Directors. To account for this exchange, the company revalued the SARS as of the modification date of January 14, 2022 using the binomial lattice model and recorded changes in the vested value since December 31, 2021 as an adjustment to the income statement. The Company then reclassified the SARS accrued liability to APIC for new RSUs and recognized incremental expense. Shares deemed vested at the modification date were released and issued net of tax in March 2022. The SARS that converted to RSUs, were added to the Company's existing RSU program. The company recorded $1.1 million and $2.4 million of expense for RSUs for the three and nine months ended  September 30, 2022.

Restricted Stock

In  March 2021, the Company granted 3 million restricted shares with an aggregate fair value of $16.4 million with a graded vesting schedule. One-third of which were vested in  April 2021, one-third of which were due to vest in  April 2022, and one-third of which were due to vest in  April 2023. In the three and nine months ended September 30, 2022, the Company recorded zero and a net credit of $3.9 million, respectively, to compensation expense related to the forfeiture and partial vesting of these grants compared to $1.4 million and $8.0 million of compensation expense in the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021 for partial vesting of the grants. The credit to compensation expense in the first nine months of 2022 was due to a reversal of expense related to the forfeiture of the unvested restricted stock upon the termination of an employee as of September 30, 2022. 

Restricted Stock Units