Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Stock-Based Compensation

v3.23.3
Stock-Based Compensation
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2023
Stock-Based Compensation  
Stock-Based Compensation

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 qualified 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). Based on the grants outstanding as of September 30, 2023, there were 844 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 nine months ended September 30, 2023, the following LTIP Units were issued by the Company:

Number of

Date

Description

Units Issued

Vesting Dates

February 23, 2023

Final awards under the 2022 Annual Incentive Plan

68

50% on February 23, 2023; and

50% on February 23, 2024

February 23, 2023

Time-based awards under the 2023 Long-Term Incentive Plan

165

100% on February 23, 2026

May 10, 2023

Annual awards to independent directors

45

100% on May 10, 2024

May 10, 2023

Discretionary awards

11

33.33% on May 10, 2024;

33.33% on May 10, 2025; and

33.33% on May 10, 2026

During the nine months ended September 30, 2023, certain participants redeemed an aggregate of 47 vested LTIP Units for the Company’s common stock and forfeited an aggregate of 25 LTIP Units. A detail of the Company’s outstanding time-based LTIP Units as of September 30, 2023 is as follows:

Vested units

    

2,270

Unvested units

 

486

LTIP Units outstanding as of September 30, 2023

 

2,756

Performance Based Awards

The Board has approved annual performance-based LTIP awards (“Annual Awards”) and long-term performance-based LTIP awards (“Long-Term Awards” and together with the Annual Awards, “Performance 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 nine months ended September 30, 2023, certain participants forfeited an aggregate of 16 Performance Awards. Additionally, none of the 2020 Long-Term Awards were earned. A detail of the Performance Awards under the 2021, 2022 and 2023 programs as of September 30, 2023 is as follows:

2021 Long-Term Awards

 

67

2022 Long-Term Awards

96

2023 Annual Awards (1)

151

2023 Long-Term Awards (2)

154

Total target performance awards as of September 30, 2023

 

468

(1) Approved by the Board on May 10, 2023. The number of target LTIP Units was based on the average closing price of the Company’s common stock reported on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) over the 15 trading days preceding the award date.
(2) Approved by the Board on February 23, 2023. The number of target LTIP Units was based on the fair value of the Long-Term Awards as determined by an independent valuation consultant.

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 of the Board (the “Compensation Committee”) and Board established performance goals for the year ending December 31, 2023, as set forth in the 2023 LTIP Annual Award Agreements (the “Performance Goals”) that will be used to determine the number of LTIP Units earned by each grantee. As of September 30, 2023, management estimated that the Performance Goals would be met at a 100% level and, accordingly, cumulative stock-based compensation expense during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2023 reflects management’s estimate that 100% of these awards will be earned. As soon as reasonably practicable following the end of the performance period, 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 2023 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 vest in two installments as follows: 50% of the earned LTIP Units will become vested on the valuation date of the awards (which is expected to occur in February 2024) 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 50% of the Long-Term Award) and relative to the companies that comprised the Dow Jones U.S. Real Estate Health Care Index (the “Index”) (as to 50% of the Long-Term Award).

Vesting. LTIP Units that are earned as of the end of the applicable three-year performance period will vest in two installments as follows; 50% of the earned LTIP Units will vest upon the day prior to the third anniversary of the respective grant dates and the remaining 50% will vest 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. 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

Compensation expense for 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 15 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:

2023 Long-Term

2022 Long-Term

2021 Long-Term

    

Awards

    

Awards

    

Awards

    

Fair value

$

11.67

$

16.39

$

14.86

 

Target awards

 

154

 

96

 

67

 

Volatility

 

43.54

%  

 

41.65

%  

 

42.37

%  

Risk-free rate

 

4.35

%  

 

1.72

%  

 

0.26

%  

Dividend assumption

 

reinvested

 

reinvested

 

reinvested

 

Expected term in years

 

3

 

3

 

3

 

The Company incurred stock compensation expense of $1,185 and $3,020 for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2023, respectively, and $1,039 and $3,615 for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2022, respectively, related to the grants awarded under the Plan. Compensation expense is included within “General and Administrative” expense in the Company’s Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations.

As of September 30, 2023, total unamortized compensation expense related to these awards of approximately $6.0 million is expected to be recognized over a weighted average remaining period of 1.5 years.