Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Note 7 - Employee and Director Benefits

v3.21.1
Note 7 - Employee and Director Benefits
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2021
Notes to Financial Statements  
Share-based Payment Arrangement [Text Block]

NOTE 7 - EMPLOYEE AND DIRECTOR BENEFITS

 

Stock Options

 

At March 31, 2021, the Company had stock incentive plans as described below. The compensation cost that has been charged to earnings for the plans was approximately $291,000 and $276,000 for the three months ended March 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively.

 

The Company’s 2009 Amended and Restated Stock Incentive Plan authorizes the grant of up to 5,550,000 shares and allows for the issuance of Stock Appreciation Rights, Restricted Stock, Stock Options, Non-stock Share Equivalents, Performance Shares or Performance Units. Both plans allow for the grant of incentive stock options and non-qualified stock options, and option awards are granted with an exercise price equal to the fair market value of the Company’s common stock at the date of grant. The maximum term of the options granted under the plans is ten years.

 

The Company estimates the fair value of each stock option award using a Black-Scholes-Merton valuation model which incorporates the assumptions noted in the following table. Expected volatilities are based on an index of southeastern United States publicly traded banks. The expected term for options granted is based on the short-cut method and represents the period of time that options granted are expected to be outstanding. The risk-free rate for periods within the contractual life of the option is based on the U. S. Treasury yield curve in effect at the time of grant.

 

   

2021

 

Expected volatility

    40.00

%

Expected dividends

    1.78

%

Expected term (in years)

    7.5  

Risk-free rate

    2.43

%

 

The weighted average grant-date fair value of options granted during the three months ended March 31, 2021 was $12.73. There were no grants of stock options during the three months ended March 31, 2020.

 

The following table summarizes stock option activity during the three months ended March 31, 2021 and 2020:

 

                   

Weighted

         
           

Weighted

   

Average

         
           

Average

   

Remaining

         
           

Exercise

   

Contractual

   

Aggregate

 
   

Shares

   

Price

   

Term (years)

   

Intrinsic Value

 
                           

(In Thousands)

 

Three Months Ended March 31, 2021:

                               

Outstanding January 1, 2021

    640,950     $ 18.14       4.6     $ 16,981  

Granted

    500       32.60       8.2       14  

Exercised

    (187,500 )     9.92       3.3       9,639  

Forfeited

    (6,000 )     5.82       0.8       79  

Outstanding March 31, 2021

    447,950       19.64       4.6     $ 14,859  
                                 

Exercisable March 31, 2021

    329,700     $ 13.57       3.7     $ 15,962  
                                 

Three Months Ended March 31, 2020:

                               

Outstanding January 1, 2020

    965,248     $ 15.19       4.9     $ 21,911  

Granted

    -       -       -       -  

Exercised

    (216,000 )     10.47       3.3       4,072  

Forfeited

    (18,000 )     30.79       6.9       26  

Outstanding March 31, 2020

    731,248       17.68       5.4     $ 12,969  
                                 

Exercisable March 31, 2020

    210,500     $ 16.54       5.0     $ 7,146  

 

As of March 31, 2021, there was $604,000 of total unrecognized compensation cost related to non-vested stock options. The cost is expected to be recognized on the straight-line method over the next 2.0 years.

 

Restricted Stock and Performance Shares

 

The Company periodically grants restricted stock awards that vest upon time-based service conditions. Dividend payments are made during the vesting period. The value of restricted stock is determined to be the current value of the Company’s stock, and this total value will be recognized as compensation expense over the vesting period. As of March 31, 2021, there was $3.2 million of total unrecognized compensation cost related to non-vested time-based restricted stock. The cost is expected to be recognized evenly over the remaining 2.7 years of the restricted stock’s vesting period.

 

The Company periodically grants performance shares that give plan participants the opportunity to earn between 0% and 150% of the number of performance shares granted based on achieving certain performance metrics. The number of performance shares earned is determined by reference to the Company’s total shareholder return relative to a peer group of other publicly traded banks and bank holding companies during the performance period. The performance period is generally three years starting on the grant date. The fair value of the performance shares is determined using a Monte Carlo simulation model on the grant date.

 

   

Restricted Stock

   

Performance Shares

 
   

Shares

   

Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value

   

Shares

   

Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value

 

Three Months Ended March 31, 2021:

                               

Non-vested at January 1, 2021

    84,307     $ 34.92       -     $ -  

Granted

    48,217       42.07       12,437       37.05  

Vested

    (5,158 )     22.72       -       -  

Forfeited

    (5,575 )     38.96       -       -  

Non-vested at March 31, 2021

    121,791       38.08       12,437       37.05  
                                 

Three Months Ended March 31, 2020:

                               

Non-vested at January 1, 2020

    71,290     $ 31.53       -     $ -  

Granted

    15,300       39.45       -       -  

Vested

    (8,376 )     18.64       -       -  

Forfeited

    -       -       -       -  

Non-vested at March 31, 2020

    78,214       34.46       -       -