16. STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY

Shelf Registration Statement

On September 25, 2020, the Company filed a universal shelf registration statement on Form S-3, which was declared effective by the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on March 4, 2021, on which the Company registered for sale up to $150 million of any combination of its debt securities, shares of common stock, shares of preferred stock, rights, warrants, units and/or purchase contracts from time to time and at prices and on terms that the Company may determine. After a public offering in March 2021, approximately $69.5 million of securities remain available for issuance under this shelf registration statement. This registration statement will remain in effect until March 2024.

Issuance of Common Stock in Connection with Increase in Long Term Investments

On August 27, 2021, the Company issued 61,590 shares of its common stock as partial consideration for its acquisition of an additional ownership interest in an equity method investment. (See Note 9).

Share Repurchase Program

In April 2018, the Company's Board of Directors approved a share repurchase program which authorizes the Company to purchase up to 500,000 shares of its common stock from time to time, either in the open market or in block purchase transactions. The amount and timing of specific repurchases are subject to market conditions, applicable legal requirements, and other factors.  As of September 30, 2021, no shares had been repurchased under the program.

Dividends

On August 30, 2021, the Company's Board of Directors declared a non-recurring special dividend of $2.00 per common share to stockholders of record at the close of business on September 20, 2021.  The dividends were paid on September 24, 2021 and totaled $22.6 million.

2014 Stock Award and Incentive Plan

The Company's amended and restated 2014 Stock Award and Incentive Plan (the "2014 Plan") was approved by the Company's stockholders on November 2, 2017.  As of September 30, 2021, 94,887 shares were available for issuance under the 2014 Plan, which terminates in 2027.

Under the 2014 Plan, the Company may grant options and other equity awards as a means of attracting and retaining officers, employees, non-employee directors and consultants, to provide incentives to such persons, and to align the interests of such persons with the interests of stockholders by providing compensation based on the value of the Company's stock. Awards under the 2014 Plan may be granted in the form of incentive or non-qualified stock options, stock appreciation rights ("SARs"), restricted stock, restricted stock units ("RSUs"), dividend equivalent rights and other stock-based awards (which may include outright grants of shares). The 2014 Plan also authorizes grants of performance-based, market-based, and cash incentive awards. The 2014 Plan is administered by the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors, which, in its discretion, may select officers and other employees, directors (including non-employee directors) and consultants to the Company and its subsidiaries to receive grants of awards. The Board of Directors itself may perform any of the functions of the Compensation Committee under the 2014 Plan.

Under the 2014 Plan, the exercise price of options and base price of SARs, as set by the Compensation Committee, generally may not be less than the fair market value of the shares on the date of grant, and the maximum term of stock options and SARs is 10 years. The 2014 Plan limits the number of share-denominated awards that may be granted to any one eligible person to 250,000 shares in any fiscal year.  Also, in the case of non-employee directors, the 2014 Plan limits the maximum grant-date fair value at $300,000 of stock-denominated awards granted to a director in a given fiscal year, except for a non-employee Chairman of the Board whose grant-date fair value maximum is $600,000 per fiscal year. The 2014 Plan will terminate when no shares remain available for issuance and no awards remain outstanding; however, the authority to grant new awards will terminate on November 2, 2027.

As of September 30, 2021 there were no awards with performance conditions nor awards with market conditions.

Stock Options

During the three months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, the Company incurred $348,471 and $178,428 of compensation expense related to stock options, respectively.  As of September 30, 2021, there was total remaining compensation expense of $2,881,679 related to employee stock options, which will be recorded over a weighted average vesting period of approximately 2.0 years.

An obligatory event was triggered as a result of the non-recurring special dividends declared on August 30, 2021. In accordance with the terms of the Company’s equity award plans under which the options were issued, an adjustment was required to protect the holders of such stock options from decreases in the value of the stock options due to payment of the non-recurring special dividends. This event decreased the exercise price of outstanding stock options by $2.00 per dividend, effective on the date of record (September 20, 2021).  The fair value of the options before and after these events were unchanged and therefore no incremental stock-based compensation was recorded.

The following table summarizes the stock option activity for the three months ended September 30, 2021.

Following is a summary of the status of stock options outstanding as of September 30, 2021.

The following table summarizes the nonvested stock option activity for the three months ended September 30, 2021.

Restricted Stock Units  

RSUs granted by the Company are not transferable and automatically convert to shares of common stock on a one-for-one basis as the awards vest.

During the three months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, the Company incurred $124,815 and $0 of compensation expense related to RSUs, respectively. As of September 30, 2021, there is $239,899 remaining compensation expense related to RSUs.

The following table summarizes the RSU activity for the three months ended September 30, 2021:

Certain Anti-Takeover Provisions

The Company’s certificate of incorporation and by-laws contain certain anti-takeover provisions that could have the effect of making it more difficult for a third party to acquire, or of discouraging a third party from attempting to acquire, control of the Company without negotiating with its Board. Such provisions could limit the price that certain investors might be willing to pay in the future for the Company’s securities. Certain of such provisions allow the Company to issue preferred stock with rights senior to those of the common stock or impose various procedural and other requirements which could make it more difficult for stockholders to effect certain corporate actions.