Stock-Based Compensation |
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| Stock-Based Compensation [Abstract] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stock-Based Compensation |
22. Stock-Based Compensation:
PQ Group Holdings Awards
In May 2016, the Company adopted an equity incentive plan, namely the PQ Group Holdings Inc. Stock Incentive Plan (“2016 Plan”). Under the terms of the 2016 Plan, the Company was authorized to issue a total of 8,017,038 shares for common stock awards to employees, directors and affiliates of the Company. Immediately preceding the IPO as of September 30, 2017, awards with respect to 7,644,518 shares of common stock had been issued under the 2016 Plan.
In connection with the IPO, the Company’s board of directors adopted the PQ Group Holdings Inc. 2017 Omnibus Incentive Plan (the “2017 Plan”). Subsequent to the IPO, all equity incentive awards have been granted under the 2017 Plan. The number of shares of common stock reserved for issuance under the 2017 Plan is 7,344,000 shares, which amount was increased by the 372,520 shares remaining available for grant under the 2016 Plan as of the 2017 Plan adoption. Shares that become available for issuance pursuant to the 2016 Plan as a result of forfeiture, cancellation or termination for no consideration will be available for future awards under the 2017 Plan. Shares underlying awards granted under the 2017 Plan that are forfeited, canceled, terminated for no consideration, settled in cash or are withheld for exercise, taxes, etc. will not be deemed as delivered and will also be available for future issuance under the 2017 Plan. At December 31, 2019, 3,980,449 shares of common stock were available for issuance under the 2017 Plan.
Stock Options
Under both the 2016 and 2017 Plans, the Company has issued options to purchase PQ Group Holdings Inc. common stock as part of its equity incentive compensation program. There are various vesting conditions associated with the awards issued under the 2016 Plan, including satisfaction of certain service and/or performance based conditions. Under the 2017 Plan, the Company’s stock option grants have been subject to graded vesting conditions based on service. The maximum contractual term of the Company’s stock options is ten years.
The following table summarizes the activity of common stock options for the period from December 31, 2016 through the year ended December 31, 2019:
The aggregate intrinsic value per the above table represents the difference between the fair value the Company’s common stock on the last trading day of the reporting period (determined in accordance with the plan terms) and the exercise price of in-the-money stock options multiplied by the respective number of stock options as of that date. The total intrinsic value of stock options exercised during the year ended December 31, 2019 and the resulting tax benefits recognized by the Company were $3,615; the total intrinsic value of stock options exercised during the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017 was not material for either year. Additionally, cash proceeds received by the Company from the exercise of stock options were $3,975 during the year ended December 31, 2019 and were not material for the year ended December 31, 2018. The Company did not receive any cash proceeds from the exercise of stock options during the year ended December 31, 2017, as the Company withheld shares in satisfaction of the exercise price and taxes due.
The fair values of PQ Group Holdings common stock options granted during the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017 were determined on the respective grant dates using a Black-Scholes option pricing model with the following weighted-average assumptions:
There were no stock option awards granted during the year ended December 31, 2019.
With respect to the stock option awards granted during the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017, the Company used the simplified method for plain vanilla stock options to estimate the expected term assumption, since the Company lacked sufficient historical exercise data to provide a reasonable basis upon which to estimate the expected term due to the limited period of time its common stock has been publicly traded. The application of the simplified method involves calculating the average of the time-to-vesting period and the total contractual life of the options. The expected volatility assumption was compared to a range of the actual stock price volatility of a peer group of companies. The risk-free interest rate was based on U.S. Treasury rates in effect at the time of the grant commensurate with the expected term. There was no dividend yield assumption since the Company has not paid dividends nor does it have an expectation of future dividend payouts.
Restricted Stock Awards, Restricted Stock Units and Performance Stock Units
The Company has granted restricted stock awards subject to vesting conditions based on (1) service only, (2) performance only, or (3) a combination of service and performance conditions, dependent on which event occurs first. The vesting requirements for the majority of these awards were based upon the achievement of a performance condition. As defined in the award agreements, each award subject to the performance condition fully vests upon the occurrence of a defined liquidity event upon which certain investment funds affiliated with CCMP receive proceeds exceeding certain thresholds. Although achievement of the performance condition is subject to continued service with the Company, the terms of awards issued with performance conditions stipulate that the performance vesting condition can be attained for a period of six months following separation from service under certain circumstances, depending on the means of separation from the Company and subject to other factors such as individual separation agreements. The same performance vesting condition for the Company’s restricted stock awards also governs the achievement of the performance vesting condition for the Company’s stock options. With the exception of 14,498 and 21,067 of restricted stock awards granted on December 27, 2018 and October 2, 2017, respectively, both of which immediately vested and were valued using the average of the high and low trading prices of the Company’s common stock on the NYSE on the preceding trading day, based on the Company’s policy for valuing such awards, all of the Company’s restricted stock awards were granted prior to the IPO. As a result, the Company valued the pre-IPO restricted stock awards at grant using multiples of EBITDA and the income approach, based on a discounted free cash flow model.
In addition to restricted stock awards, the Company has granted restricted stock units and performance stock units as part of its equity incentive compensation program. Each restricted stock unit provides the recipient with the right to receive a share of common stock subject to graded vesting terms based on service, which generally requires one year of service for members of the Company’s board of directors and three years of service for employees.
The Company also granted performance stock units during the year ended December 31, 2019, which provide the recipients with the right to receive shares of common stock dependent on the achievement of two Company-specific financial performance targets and the provision of service through the vesting date. Attainment of the metrics is measured based on the average levels of achievement across the three-year period from January 1, 2019 through December 31, 2021. Depending on the Company’s performance against the pre-determined thresholds for achievement, each performance stock unit award holder is eligible to earn a percentage of the target number of shares granted to the holder, ranging from zero to 200%. The performance stock units, to the extent earned, will vest on the date the Company’s compensation and governance committee certifies the achievement of the performance metrics for the three-year period ending December 31, 2021, which will occur no later than March 1, 2022.
The value of the restricted stock units granted by the Company is based on the average of the high and low trading prices of the Company’s common stock on the NYSE on the preceding trading day, in accordance with the Company’s policy for valuing such awards. Compensation expense related to the restricted stock units is recognized on a straight-line basis over the respective vesting period. The value of the performance stock units granted during the year ended December 31, 2019 was measured on the same basis as that of the restricted stock units, and based on the target number of shares granted; because the performance vesting conditions affect the ability of the recipients to vest in the awards, they are not factored into the fair value measure of the award. Compensation expense related to the performance stock units is recognized ratably over the requisite service period, and the Company must assess the probability that the performance conditions will be met each reporting period and the level at which they are estimated to be attained. Should the probability assessment change during a given reporting period, the total compensation cost (both recognized and unrecognized) will be adjusted to reflect the revised assessment.
The following table summarizes the activity of restricted stock awards, restricted stock units and performance stock units for the period from December 31, 2016 through the year ended December 31, 2019:
The total fair value of restricted stock awards that vested during the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017 was $1,543, $3,493 and $2,608, respectively. The total fair value of restricted stock units that vested during the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017 was $8,493, $13,628 and $0, respectively. None of the Company’s performance stock units vested during the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017.
Equity Restructuring
The Company’s equity restructuring which occurred prior the IPO (see Note 1 to these consolidated financial statements for further information) constituted an event subject to modification accounting for stock-based compensation awards. However, the change to the equity incentive awards of the Company was designed to preserve the fair value of the awards before and after the reclassification and stock split (based on the existing antidilution provisions of the 2016 Plan), and included the same terms and were classified in the same manner as the equity awards preceding the modification. As a result, no incremental compensation cost was recognized by the Company.
Total Stock-Based Compensation Expense
For the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017, total stock-based compensation expense for the Company was $18,225, $19,464 and $8,799, respectively. The income tax benefit recognized in the statements of income for the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017 was $3,943, $4,809 and $3,350.
As of December 31, 2019, there was $813 of total unrecognized compensation cost related to nonvested stock options subject to service vesting conditions, with a weighted-average period over which these costs are expected to be recognized of 0.67 years. Unrecognized compensation cost related to nonvested restricted stock awards subject to service vesting conditions was not material. As of December 31, 2019, there was $18,045 of total unrecognized compensation cost related to nonvested restricted stock units and $6,186 of total unrecognized compensation cost related to nonvested performance stock units considered probable of vesting. The weighted-average period over which these costs are expected to be recognized at December 31, 2019 is 1.63 years for the restricted stock units and 2.16 years for the performance stock units. No expense has been recognized for any stock-based compensation awards subject to the performance condition for the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017, as the performance-based criteria was not achieved nor considered probable of achievement.
Restricted stock awards and stock options issued with performance conditions vest based on the occurrence of a defined liquidity event upon which certain investment funds affiliated with CCMP receive proceeds exceeding certain thresholds. All of the Company’s equity incentive awards with performance-based vesting, whether in the form of stock options or restricted stock awards, are subject to achievement of the same performance condition. If an exit event occurs that exceeds the defined threshold, then all performance-based awards of the Company vest 100%, with no potential for partial vesting or excess achievement. If an exit event or events occur with no further possibility of meeting the defined threshold, then all of the Company’s awards subject to the performance vesting condition will be forfeited. In addition to the defined liquidity event, subsequent to the Company’s IPO, the performance vesting condition can also be achieved if the average closing trading price of the Company’s common stock on the NYSE over any consecutive ten-day trading period equals or exceeds a price that would be equivalent to the achievement of the threshold proceeds to CCMP. See Note 23 to these consolidated financial statements for further information on the number of awards outstanding subject to performance-based vesting.
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