Our shareholders previously approved the Lancaster Colony Corporation 2015 Omnibus Incentive Plan (the “2015 Plan”). The 2015 Plan reserved 1,500,000 common shares for issuance to our employees and directors. All awards granted under this plan will be exercisable at prices not less than fair market value as of the date of the grant. The vesting period for awards granted under this plan varies as to the type of award granted, and the maximum term of these awards is seven years.

We recognize compensation expense over the requisite service period of the grant. Compensation expense is reflected in Cost of Sales or Selling, General and Administrative Expenses based on the grantees’ salaries expense classification. We estimate a forfeiture rate based on historical experience.

Prior to 2022, we used periodic grants of stock-settled stock appreciation rights (“SSSARs”) as a vehicle for rewarding certain employees with long-term incentives for their efforts in helping to create long-term shareholder value. Our policy is to issue shares upon SSSARs exercise from new shares that had been previously authorized. The SSSARs we granted generally vested over a 3-year period whereby one-third vested on the first anniversary of the grant date, one-third vested on the second anniversary of the grant date and one-third vested on the third anniversary of the grant date. At June 30, 2025, there were no unvested SSSARs outstanding.


	2025		2024		2023
Compensation expense	$	—	$	1,038	$	1,972
Tax benefits	$	—	$	90	$	216
Intrinsic value of exercises	$	(18)	$	677	$	3,873


	Number of Rights	Weighted Average Exercise Price		Weighted Average Remaining Contractual Life in Years	Aggregate Intrinsic Value
Outstanding at beginning of year	39	$	169.75
Exercised	(20)	$	163.69
Granted	—	$	—
Forfeited	—	$	—
Outstanding at end of year	19	$	175.76	2.56	$	31
Exercisable and vested at end of year	19	$	175.76	2.56	$	31
Vested and expected to vest at end of year	19	$	175.76	2.56	$	31


	Outstanding				Exercisable
			Weighted Average
Grant Years	Range of Exercise Prices	Number Outstanding	Remaining Contractual Life in Years	Exercise Price	Number Exercisable	Weighted Average Exercise Price
2021	$167.18-$177.99	18	2.62	$177.40	18	$177.40
2020	$153.71	1	1.66	$153.71	1	$153.71

We use periodic grants of restricted stock as a vehicle for rewarding our nonemployee directors and certain employees with long-term incentives for their efforts in helping to create long-term shareholder value.

In 2025, 2024 and 2023, we granted shares of restricted stock to various employees under the terms of the plan. The following table summarizes information relating to these grants:


	2025		2024		2023
Employees
Restricted stock granted	38		33		29
Grant date fair value	$	7,292	$	6,076	$	4,448
Weighted average grant date fair value per award	$	190.84	$	185.05	$	154.80

The restricted stock under these employee grants generally vests 3 years after the grant date. Under the terms of our grants, employees receive dividends on unforfeited restricted stock regardless of their vesting status.

In 2025, 2024 and 2023, we also granted shares of restricted stock to our nonemployee directors under the terms of the plan. The following table summarizes information relating to each of these grants:


	2025		2024		2023
Nonemployee directors
Restricted stock granted	6		5		4
Grant date fair value	$	1,215	$	920	$	919
Weighted average grant date fair value per award	$	200.28	$	165.41	$	203.34

The restricted stock under these nonemployee director grants generally vests 1 year after the grant date. All of the shares granted during 2025 are expected to vest. Dividends earned on the stock during the vesting period are paid to the directors at the time the stock vests.

The following table summarizes our restricted stock compensation expense and tax benefits recorded for each of the years ended June 30:


	Number of Shares	Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value
Unvested restricted stock at beginning of year	80	$	176.21
Granted	44	$	192.14
Vested	(28)	$	183.25
Forfeited	(6)	$	184.23
Unvested restricted stock at end of year	90	$	181.33

At June 30, 2025, there was $7.1 million of unrecognized compensation expense related to restricted stock that we will recognize over a weighted-average period of 2 years.

Beginning in 2022, we use periodic grants of performance units as a vehicle for rewarding certain employees with long-term incentives for their efforts in helping to create long-term shareholder value. These performance units are based on two performance metrics, with equal weightings, as follows:

These performance units vest 3 years after the grant date and are settled in shares of common stock equal to the number of performance units granted multiplied by a percentage between 0% and 200% depending on the achievement of the above-noted performance metrics over the 3-year performance period. Our policy is to issue shares upon the vesting of performance units from new shares that had been previously authorized. Dividend equivalents earned during the vesting period are paid at the time the awards vest.

In 2025, 2024 and 2023, we granted performance units to various employees under the terms of the plan. The following table summarizes information relating to these grants:


	2025		2024		2023
Performance units granted	25		25		26
Grant date fair value	$	5,248	$	4,745	$	4,572
Weighted average grant date fair value per award	$	206.54	$	192.91	$	173.73

For our performance units with a performance condition, the grant-date fair value is equal to the closing price of our common stock on the grant date. For our performance units with a market condition, the grant-date fair value is estimated using a Monte Carlo simulation. The assumptions used in the Monte Carlo simulation were as follows:


	2025		2024		2023
Risk-free interest rate	3.72	%	4.60	%	3.18	%
Dividend yield	1.98	%	1.78	%	2.08	%
Volatility factor of the expected market price of our common stock	26.40	%	24.60	%	32.20	%

The following table summarizes our performance units compensation expense and tax benefits recorded for each of the years ended June 30:


	2025
Payout of revenue-based performance units	174		%
Payout of market-based performance units	91		%
Fair value of vested performance units	$	3,281


	Number of Units	Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value
Unvested performance units at beginning of year	62	$	188.34
Granted	25	$	206.54
Vested	(16)	$	201.70
Forfeited	(6)	$	192.75
Unvested performance units at end of year	65	$	191.72

At June 30, 2025, there was $4.4 million of unrecognized compensation expense related to performance units that we will recognize over a weighted-average period of 2 years.