8. Share-Based Payment Arrangements

Our 2015 Long Term Incentive Plan (“2015 LTIP”) was approved by shareholders on May 29, 2015.  There are 2,000,000 shares authorized for issuance under the 2015 LTIP.  As of September 30, 2022, restricted stock units representing the right to receive up to 1,071,060 shares of our common stock were outstanding under the 2015 LTIP.  There were no stock options outstanding under the 2015 LTIP as of September 30, 2022.

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Stock Options:

There were no stock options outstanding at any point during the nine months ended September 30, 2022.  There were no stock options granted, exercised or forfeited during the nine months ended September 30, 2022 or 2021, respectively.  As of September 30, 2022, there was no unrecognized compensation cost related to non-vested stock options.

Restricted Stock Units:

Restricted stock units awarded under the 2015 LTIP represent the right to receive shares of common stock upon the satisfaction of vesting requirements, performance criteria and other terms and conditions. For grants issued prior to 2021, restricted stock units vest and shares of common stock become issuable on March 31 of the third calendar year following the year of grant if performance criteria have been satisfied. Restricted stock units awarded under the 2015 LTIP during 2021 and 2022 cumulatively vest up to 50%, 80% and 100%, and shares of common stock become issuable, on March 31 of the third, fourth and fifth calendar years, respectively, following the year of grant if performance criteria have been satisified.

The performance criteria for restricted stock units vary based on grantee. The number of shares of common stock to be received ranges from 50% to 150% of the number of restricted stock units granted based on the level of achievement

of the performance criteria. Grantees of restricted stock units do not have any rights of a stockholder, and do not participate in any distributions to our common stockholders, until the award fully vests upon satisfaction of the vesting schedule, performance criteria and other conditions set forth in their award agreement. Therefore, unvested restricted stock units are not considered participating securities under ASC 260, “Earnings Per Share” (Topic 260), and are not included in the calculation of basic or diluted earnings per share.

Compensation cost is measured as an amount equal to the fair value of the restricted stock units on the date of grant and is expensed over the vesting period if achievement of the performance criteria is deemed probable, with the amount of the expense recognized based on our best estimate of the ultimate achievement level.  The grant date fair value of restricted stock units granted in 2018, 2019, 2021and 2022 was $10.87, $18.10, $4.21 and $3.62 per unit, respectively.  We incurred compensation expense (benefit) of ($203) thousand and $233 thousand related to restricted stock units during the three months and nine months ended September 30, 2022, respectively.   We incurred compensation expense of $4 thousand and $158 thousand related to restricted stock units during the three months and nine months ended September 30, 2021, respectively.  We recorded income tax (expense) benefit of ($43) thousand and $49 thousand related to restricted stock units during the three months and nine months ended September 30, 2022, respectively.  We recorded income tax benefit of $1 thousand and $33 thousand related to restricted stock units during the three months and nine months ended September 30, 2021, respectively.  

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The following table details the status of our restricted stock units as of and for the nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021.

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As of September 30, 2022, there was $2.1 million of unrecognized grant date compensation cost related to unvested restricted stock units assuming compensation cost accrual at target achievement level.  Based on the current performance estimate, we expect to recognize $1.4 million of compensation cost related to unvested restricted stock units, of which $0.1 million is expected to be recognized during the remainder of 2022, $0.6 million in 2023, $0.4 million in 2024, $0.2 million in 2025 and $0.1 million in 2026.