Stock Based Compensation |
3 Months Ended | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Mar. 31, 2026 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Stock Based Compensation | Stock Based Compensation
The Company replaced its expired 2015 Stock Option and Incentive Plan with a new equity incentive plan named the Finward Bancorp 2025 Omnibus Equity Incentive Plan (the “Plan”), which was adopted by the Company’s Board of Directors on March 21, 2025, and approved by the Company’s shareholders on May 22, 2025. The maximum number of shares of common stock cumulatively available for issuance under the Plan is 270,727 shares. Awards granted under the Plan may be in the form of incentive stock options, non-qualified stock options, restricted stock, unrestricted stock, restricted stock units, performance shares, stock appreciation rights, or any combination thereof, as provided in the Plan. Unvested awards granted under the prior plan will continue to be governed by the terms of the award agreements entered into with the participants under the prior plan. Shares of common stock underlying awards granted under the prior plan that expire, terminate, or are canceled or forfeited under the terms of the prior plan will be available for issuance under the new plan.
As required by the Stock Compensation Topic, companies are required to record compensation cost for stock options and awards provided to employees in return for employment service. For the three months ended March 31, 2026, stock
based compensation expense of $126 thousand was recorded, compared to $98 thousand for the three months ended March 31, 2025. It is anticipated that current outstanding unvested awards will result in additional compensation expense of approximately $640 thousand with a weighted average life of 1.7 years.
Restricted stock awards are issued with an award price equal to the market price of the Company’s common stock on the award date and vest one year after the grant date for independent directors and three years after the grant date for employees. Forfeiture provisions exist for personnel that separate employment before the vesting period expires. A summary of restricted stock activity under the Company’s Plan described above for the three months ended March 31, 2026, follows:
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