Note 11. Stockholders' Equity

Effective January 27, 2015, the Company’s Board of Directors adopted the 2015 Stock Incentive Plan (the “2015 Plan”) which provides for up to 1,250,000 common shares available for issuance to provide a long-term incentive plan for officers, employees, directors and/or consultants to directly link incentives to stockholder value. The 2015 Plan was approved by the Company’s stockholders in February 2015. The Company’s 2015 Plan provides for grants to executives in various forms including restricted shares of the Company’s common stock and stock options. Awards are discretionary and are determined by the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors. Awards vest based upon service conditions. Non-vested restricted shares generally vest over requisite service periods of one to six years from the date of grant.

The Company recognizes stock-based compensation expense for (i) Board of Directors fees (generally paid in treasury stock), and (ii) other awards under the 2015 Plan (paid in restricted stock and stock options). Stock-based compensation expense is recognized in general and administrative expenses in the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations.

Stock Compensation - Board of Directors

The Board of Directors can either elect to receive stock compensation or cash for their fees for services provided. Stock-based compensation expense relating to the Board of Director fees was approximately $169,000 and $348,000 for the three and six months ended March 31, 2022, respectively, and $222,000 and $444,000 for the three and six months ended March 31, 2021, respectively.

Restricted Stock

Stock compensation expense related to the Restricted Stock was approximately $68,000 and $204,000 for the three and six months ended March 31, 2022, respectively, and approximately $40,000 and $65,000 for the three and six months ended March 31, 2021, respectively. There was approximately $262,000 and $144,000 of total unrecognized stock compensation costs related to unvested stock compensation for the Restricted Stock grants at March 31, 2022 and September 30, 2021, respectively.

On January 26, 2022, the Company awarded 7,256 restricted shares of the Company’s common stock to employees, with more than one year of service, under the 2015 plan at a weighted average fair value of $35.50 per common share, vesting on January 1, 2023.  

On November 5, 2021, the Company awarded 2,224 restricted shares of the Company’s common stock to certain executives and senior managers under the 2015 Plan at a weighted average fair value of $37.13 per common share, vesting on January 1, 2023.

On October 15, 2021, the Company awarded 2,500 restricted shares of the Company’s common stock to the President and CEO under the 2015 Plan at a weighted average fair value of $34.41 per common share, vesting on January 1, 2022.

On November 10, 2020, the Company awarded 5,885 restricted shares of the Company’s common stock to certain other executives and senior managers under the 2015 Plan at a weighted average fair value of $31.20 per common share, vesting on January 1, 2022.

Stock Option Grant

Stock option grants of 118,000 options to certain officers and managers of the Company (collectively the “2020 Option Grants”) were granted on October 11, 2019. The option exercise price was set at $33.96, the closing price on October 11, 2019. The 2020 Option Grants will vest as follows: (i) 25% of the options will vest if the price of the Company’s common stock during a consecutive 20-trading day period exceeds $35.00; (ii) 25% of the options will vest if the price of the Company’s common stock during a consecutive 20-trading day period exceeds $40.00; (iii) 25% of the options will vest if the price of the Company’s common stock during a consecutive 20-trading day period exceeds $45.00; and (iv) 25% of the options will vest if the price of the Company’s common stock during a consecutive 20-trading day period exceeds $50.00. If the applicable stock price hurdles have not been achieved by (A) the date that is 18 months following the termination of employment, if the employment is terminated due to death or disability, (B) the date that is 12 months following the termination of employment, if the employment is terminated by the Company without cause, by the employee with good reason, or due to the employee’s retirement, or (C) the date of the termination of employment for any other reason, then any unvested options will be forfeited. In addition, if the applicable stock price hurdles have not been achieved by December 31, 2022, then any unvested options will be forfeited. The 2020 Option Grants will also become vested to the extent that the applicable stock price hurdles are satisfied in connection with a change in control of the Company. During the six months ended March 31, 2022, the stock did not trade above $40.00 per share for twenty consecutive days (the $35.00 per share threshold was met during fiscal year 2020 and thus 25% was previously vested); accordingly, no additional amounts of the 2020 Option Grants were vested as of March 31, 2022.

Stock option grants of 10,000 options to Mr. John Kiernan (the “2019 Option Grants”) were granted on October 25, 2018. The option exercise price for these options was set at $33.34, the closing price on October 25, 2018. The 2019 Option Grants will vest as follows: (i) 3,333 of the options will vest if the price of the Company’s common stock during a consecutive 20-trading day period exceeds $40.00; (ii) 3,333 of the options will vest if the price of the Company’s common stock during a consecutive 20-trading day period exceeds $45.00; and (iii) 3,334 of the options will vest if the price of the Company’s common stock during a consecutive 20-trading day period exceeds $50.00. If the applicable stock price hurdles have not been achieved by (A) the date that is 18 months following Mr. Kiernan’s termination of employment, if Mr. Kiernan’s employment is terminated due to death or disability, (B) the date that is 12 months following Mr. Kiernan’s termination of employment, if Mr. Kiernan’s employment is terminated by the Company without cause, by Mr. Kiernan with good reason, or due to Mr. Kiernan’s retirement, or (C) the date of the termination of Mr. Kiernan’s employment for any other reason, then any unvested options will be forfeited. In addition, if the applicable stock price hurdles were not achieved by December 31, 2021, any unvested options would be forfeited. Since the date of grant, the stock did not trade above $40.00 per share for twenty consecutive days; therefore, the 2019 Option grants were forfeited as of December 31, 2021.

Stock option grants of 210,000 options to Mr. Remy Trafelet and 90,000 options to Mr. John Kiernan (collectively, the “2018 Option Grants”) were granted on September 7, 2018. The option exercise price for these options was set at $33.60, the closing price on September 7, 2018. The 2018 Option Grants were to vest as follows: (i) 25% of the options will vest if the price of the Company’s common stock during a consecutive 20-trading day period exceeds $35.00; (ii) 25% of the options will vest if the price of the Company’s common stock during a consecutive 20-trading day period exceeds $40.00; (iii) 25% of the options will vest if the price of the Company’s common stock during a consecutive 20-trading day period exceeds $45.00; and (iv) 25% of the options will vest if the price of the Company’s common stock during a consecutive 20-trading day period exceeds $50.00. If the applicable stock price hurdles have not been achieved by (A) the date that is 18 months following the respective Executive’s termination of employment, if the respective Executive’s employment is terminated due to death or disability, (B) the date that is 12 months following the respective Executive’s termination of employment, if the respective Executive’s employment is terminated by the Company without cause, by the respective Executive with good reason, or due to the respective Executive’s retirement, or (C) the date of the termination of the respective Executive’s employment for any other reason, then any unvested options will be forfeited. In addition, if the applicable stock price hurdles have not been achieved by December 31, 2021, any unvested options would be forfeited. The 2018 Option Grants would also have become vested to the

extent that the applicable stock price hurdles were satisfied in connection with a change in control of the Company. With respect to the 2018 Options Grants issued to Mr. John Kiernan, during the six months ended March 31, 2022, the stock did not trade above $40.00 per share for a consecutive twenty days (the $35.00 per share threshold was met during fiscal year 2020 and thus 25% was previously vested). As of March 31, 2022, only 25% of the 2018 Options Grants vested for Mr. John Kiernan, 67,500 of the 2018 Options Grants were forfeited as of December 31, 2021. The 2018 Option Grants issued to Mr. Trafelet were forfeited as part of a settlement agreement entered into with the Company on February 11, 2019. Forfeitures of all stock options were recognized as incurred.

Stock compensation expense related to the options of approximately $18,000 and $78,000 was recognized for the three and six months ended March 31, 2022, respectively, and approximately $61,000 and $121,000 was recognized for the three and six months ended March 31, 2021, respectively. At March 31, 2022 and September 30, 2021, there was approximately $54,000 and $134,000, respectively, of total unrecognized stock compensation costs related to unvested share-based compensation for the option grants. The total unrecognized compensation cost is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of 0.75 years.

The fair value of the 2020 Option Grant was estimated on the date of grant using a Monte Carlo valuation model that uses the assumptions noted in the following table. The expected term of options granted is derived from the output of the option valuation model and represents the period of time that options granted are expected to be outstanding; the range given below results from different timeframes for the various market conditions being met.

The weighted-average grant-date fair value of the 2020 Option Grant was $3.20. There were no additional stock options granted for the three and six months ended March 31, 2022. On December 15, 2022, a senior executive exercised 5,000 stock options with an exercise price of $33.96 per share.

The following table illustrates the Company’s treasury stock activity for the six months ended March 31, 2022: