Stock-Based Incentive Plan | Stock-Based Incentive Plan At the December 8, 2016 annual meeting, the stockholders approved the adoption of the Evolution Petroleum Corporation 2016 Equity Incentive Plan (the “2016 Plan”), which replaced the Evolution Petroleum Corporation Amended and Restated 2004 Stock Plan (the "2004 Plan") for which there were no shares available for future grants. The 2016 Plan authorizes the issuance of 1,100,000 shares of common stock prior to its expiration on December 8, 2026. Incentives under the 2016 Plan may be granted to employees, directors and consultants of the Company in any one or a combination of the following forms: incentive stock options and non-statutory stock options, stock appreciation rights, restricted stock awards and restricted stock unit awards, performance share awards, performance cash awards, and other forms of incentives valued in whole or in part by reference to, or otherwise based on, our common stock, including its appreciation in value. As of September 30, 2018 , 887,326 shares remained available for grant under the 2016 Plan. All outstanding awards granted under the 2004 Plan continue to be subject to the terms and conditions as set forth in the agreements evidencing such awards and the terms of the 2004 Plan. Under these agreements, we have outstanding grants of restricted common stock awards ("Restricted Stock") and contingent restricted common stock awards ("Contingent Restricted Stock") to employees and directors of the Company. Restricted Stock and Contingent Restricted Stock The Company has awarded grants of both Restricted Stock and Contingent Restricted Stock as part of its long-term incentive plan. Such grants, which expire after a maximum of four years if unvested, contain service-based, performance-based and market-based vesting provisions. The common shares underlying the Restricted Stock grants are issued on the date of grant. Contingent Restricted Stock grants vest only upon the attainment of higher performance-based or market-based vesting thresholds and are issued only upon vesting. Shares underlying Contingent Restricted Stock awards are reserved from the Plan they were granted under. Service-based awards vest with continuous employment by the Company, generally in annual installments over their terms of three to four years. Certain awards may contain other vesting periods, including quarterly installments and one -year vesting. Restricted Stock grants which vest based on service are valued at the fair market value on the date of grant and amortized over the service period. During the three months ended September 30, 2018 , we granted 31,777 service-based and 43,990 market-based Restricted Stock awards to our employees. We did not grant any performance-based awards, nor any Contingent Restricted Stock awards, during this period. The service-based awards have a three -year vesting period period. Performance-based grants vest upon the attainment of earnings, revenue and other operational goals and require that the recipient remain an employee or director of the Company through the vesting date. The Company recognizes compensation expense for performance-based awards ratably over the expected vesting period based on the grant date fair value when it is deemed probable, for accounting purposes, that the performance criteria will be achieved. The expected vesting period may be deemed to be shorter than the term of the award. As of September 30, 2018 , there were no performance-based awards outstanding. Market-based awards vest if their respective two - or three -year trailing total returns on the Company’s common stock exceed the corresponding total returns of various quartiles of indices consisting of either peer companies or a broad market index of companies in our industry. More recent market-based awards vest if the average of the Company's closing stock prices over defined quarterly measurement periods together with accumulated paid dividends exceeds a defined value. The fair values and expected vesting periods of these awards are determined using a Monte Carlo simulation based on the historical volatility of the Company's total return compared to the historical volatilities of the other companies in the index. Compensation expense for market-based awards is recognized over the expected vesting period using the straight-line method, so long as the holder remains an employee or director of the Company. Total compensation expense is based on the fair value of the awards at the date of grant and is independent of vesting or expiration of the awards, except for termination of service. For market-based awards granted during the three months ended September 30, 2018 , the range of assumptions used in the Monte Carlo simulation valuations, expected lives and fair values were as follows: Three Months Ended 2018 Risk-free interest rate 2.69 % Expected life in years 2.82 Expected volatility 41.8 % Dividend yield 4.0 % Unvested Restricted Stock awards at September 30, 2018 consisted of the following: Number of Weighted Service-based awards 176,598 $ 7.70 Market-based awards 64,302 7.35 Unvested Restricted Stock at September 30, 2018 240,900 $ 7.61 The following table sets forth the Restricted Stock transactions for the three months ended September 30, 2018 : Number of Weighted Unamortized Compensation Expense at September 30, 2018 Weighted Average Remaining Amortization Period (Years) Unvested at July 1, 2018 199,477 $ 6.83 Service-based shares granted 31,777 9.90 Market-based shares granted 43,990 8.24 Vested (34,344 ) 6.01 Unvested Restricted Stock at September 30, 2018 240,900 $ 7.61 $ 1,211,864 2.36 Unvested Contingent Restricted Stock awards at September 30, 2018 consisted of the following: Number of Weighted Market-based awards 10,156 $ 3.42 The following table sets forth Contingent Restricted Stock transactions for the three months ended September 30, 2018 : Number of Weighted Unamortized Compensation Expense at March 31, 2018 Weighted Average Remaining Amortization Period (Years) Unvested at July 1, 2018 28,562 $ 6.06 Vested (10,629 ) 5.67 Expired (7,777 ) 10.05 Unvested contingent shares at September 30, 2018 10,156 $ 3.42 $ 9,155 .74 Stock-based compensation expense related to Restricted Stock and Contingent Restricted Stock grants for the three months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017 was $215,373 and $487,484 , respectively. |