Note 7 – Stock-Based Compensation

2016 Equity Incentive Plan

The 2016 Equity Incentive Plan, as amended (the “Plan”), is intended to assist the Company and its affiliates in recruiting and retaining employees of the Company, members of the Board, executive officers of the Company, and individuals who provide services to the Company and its affiliates.

The Plan is intended to permit the grant of both qualifying and non-qualified options and the grant of stock appreciation rights, restricted stock, unrestricted stock, awards of restricted stock units, performance awards and other equity-based awards (including LTIP Units). On May 26, 2021, the Company’s stockholders approved an amendment to the Plan to increase the number of authorized shares available for issuance under the Plan by 1,500 shares. Based on the grants outstanding as of December 31, 2021, there were 1,469 shares of common stock that remain available to be granted under the Plan. Units subject to awards under the Plan that are forfeited, cancelled, lapsed, or otherwise expired (excluding shares withheld to satisfy exercise prices or tax withholding obligations) are available for grant.

Time-Based Grants

During the year ended December 31, 2021, pursuant to the recommendation of the Compensation Committee of the Board (the “Compensation Committee”), the Board approved the following LTIP Unit activity:

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During the year ended December 31, 2021, there were 17 time-based LTIP Units forfeited and seven LTIP units redeemed for the Company’s common stock. A detail of the Company’s outstanding time-based LTIP Units as of December 31, 2021 is as follows:

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Performance Based Awards

The Board has approved annual performance-based LTIP awards (“Annual Awards”) and long-term performance-based LTIP awards (“Long-Term Awards”) to the executive officers and other employees of the Company.  As described below, the Annual Awards have one-year performance periods and the Long-Term Awards have three-year performance periods. In addition to meeting specified performance metrics, vesting in both the Annual Awards and the Long-Term Awards is subject to service requirements.

During the year ended December 31, 2021 there were eight performance-based LTIP awards forfeited. A detail of the Company’s Long-Term Awards under the 2019 and 2020 programs, and the Annual Awards and Long-Term Awards under the 2021 program as of December 31, 2021 is as follows:

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Annual Awards. The Annual Awards are subject to the terms and conditions of LTIP Annual Award Agreements (“LTIP Annual Award Agreements”) between the Company and each grantee.

The Compensation Committee and Board established performance goals for the year ending December 31, 2021, as set forth in the 2021 LTIP Annual Award Agreements (the “Performance Goals”) that will be used to determine the number of LTIP Units earned by each grantee. As of December 31, 2021, management estimated that the Performance Goals would be met at a 105% level and, accordingly, estimated that 105% of the 2021 target Annual Awards were expected to be earned at the end of the performance period, and accordingly, cumulative stock-based compensation expense during the year ended December 31, 2021 reflects management’s estimate that 105% of these awards will be earned. As soon as reasonably practicable following the first anniversary of the Annual Awards grant date, the Compensation Committee and Board will determine the extent to which the Company has achieved each of the Performance Goals (expressed as a percentage) and, based on such determination, will calculate the number of LTIP Units that each grantee is entitled to receive. Each grantee may earn up to 150% of the number of his/her target LTIP Units. Any 2021 Annual Award LTIP Units that are not earned will be forfeited and cancelled.

Vesting. LTIP Units that are earned as of the end of the applicable performance period will be subject to vesting, subject to continued employment through each vesting date, in two installments as follows: 50% of the earned LTIP Units will become vested on the date in 2022 that the Board approves the number of LTIP Units to be awarded pursuant to the performance components set forth in the 2021 LTIP Annual Award Agreements and 50% of the earned LTIP Units become vested on the one year anniversary of the initial vesting date. Vesting may be accelerated under certain circumstances such as a “change-in-control” transaction or a “qualified termination” event.

Distributions. Distributions equal to the dividends declared and paid by the Company will accrue during the applicable performance period on the maximum number of LTIP Units that the grantee could earn and will be paid with respect to all of the earned LTIP Units at the conclusion of the applicable performance period, in cash or by the issuance of additional LTIP Units at the discretion of the Compensation Committee.

Long-Term Awards. The Long-Term Awards are subject to the terms and conditions of their related LTIP Long-Term Award Agreements (collectively the “LTIP Long-Term Award Agreements”) between the Company and each grantee. The number of LTIP Units that each grantee earns under the LTIP Long-Term Award Agreements will be determined following the conclusion of a three-year performance period based on the Company’s total stockholder return (“TSR”), which is determined based on a combination of appreciation in stock price and dividends paid during the performance period. Each grantee may earn up to 200% of the number of target LTIP Units covered by the grantee’s Long-Term Award. Any target LTIP Units that are not earned will be forfeited and cancelled. The number of LTIP Units earned under the Long-Term Awards will be determined as soon as reasonably practicable following the end of the applicable three-year performance period based on the Company’s TSR on an absolute basis (as to 75% of the Long-Term Award) and relative to the companies that comprised the former SNL Healthcare REIT Index (the “Index”) (as to 25% of the Long-Term Award).

Vesting. LTIP Units that are earned as of the end of the applicable three-year performance period will be subject to forfeiture restrictions that will lapse (“vesting”), subject to continued employment through each vesting date as follows; 50% of the earned LTIP Units will vest upon the third anniversary of the respective grant dates and the remaining 50% will vest on the fourth anniversary of the respective grant dates. Vesting may be accelerated under certain circumstances such as a “change-in-control” transaction or a “qualified termination” event.

Distributions. Pursuant to the LTIP Long-Term Award Agreements, distributions equal to the dividends declared and paid by the Company will accrue during the applicable performance period on the maximum number of LTIP Units that the grantee could earn and will be paid with respect to all of the earned LTIP Units at the conclusion of the applicable performance period, in cash or by the issuance of additional LTIP Units at the discretion of the Compensation Committee.

Stock-Based Compensation Expense

The Company’s prospective compensation expense for all unvested LTIP Units, Annual Awards, and Long-Term Awards is recognized using the adoption date fair value of the awards, with no remeasurement required. Compensation expense for future LTIP Unit grants, Annual Awards, and Long-Term Awards is based on the grant date fair value of the units/awards, with no subsequent remeasurement required.

As the Long-Term Awards involve market-based performance conditions, the Company utilizes a Monte Carlo simulation to provide a grant date fair value for expense recognition. The Monte Carlo simulation is a generally accepted statistical technique used, in this instance, to simulate a range of possible future stock prices for the Company and the members of the Index over the Performance Periods. The purpose of this modeling is to use a probabilistic approach for estimating the fair value of the performance share award.

The assumptions used in the Monte Carlo simulation include beginning average stock price, valuation date stock price, expected volatilities, correlation coefficients, risk-free rate of interest, and expected dividend yield. The beginning average stock price is the beginning average stock price for the Company and each member of the Index for the five trading days leading up to the grant date of the Long-Term Award. The valuation date stock price is the closing stock price of the Company and each of the peer companies in the Index on the grant dates of the Long-Term Awards. The expected volatilities are modeled using the historical volatilities for the Company and the members of the Index. The correlation coefficients are calculated using the same data as the historical volatilities. The risk-free rate of interest is taken from the U.S. Treasury website and relates to the expected life of the remaining performance period on valuation or revaluation. Lastly, the dividend yield assumption is 0.0%, which is mathematically equivalent to reinvesting dividends in the issuing entity, which is part of the Company’s award agreement assumptions.

Below are details regarding certain of the assumptions for the Long-Term Awards using Monte Carlo simulations:

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The Company incurred stock compensation expense of $5,810, $5,319, and $3,336, for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020, and 2019, respectively, related to the grants awarded under the Plan. Compensation expense is included within “General and Administrative” expense in the Company’s Consolidated Statements of Operations.

As of December 31, 2021, total unamortized compensation expense related to these awards of approximately $4.9 million is expected to be recognized over a weighted average remaining period of 1.6 years.