Annual report [Section 13 and 15(d), not S-K Item 405]

Equity Incentive Plans

v3.25.4
Equity Incentive Plans
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2025
Share-Based Payment Arrangement [Abstract]  
Equity Incentive Plans Equity Incentive Plans
The Company grants equity-based awards to employees and non-employee directors for the purpose of attracting and retaining the services of its executive officers, key employees, and members of the Board. The Company’s equity-based awards are granted under the 2018 Equity Incentive Plan (the “2018 Plan”) for employees and 2018 Non-Employee Director Plan (the “Director Plan”) for non-employee directors. The 2018 Plan and the Director Plan were approved by stockholders on June 28, 2018 and unless earlier terminated by the Board, terminate on May 12, 2028. Subject to certain adjustments and permitted reversions of shares, the maximum aggregate number of shares that may be authorized for issuance under awards granted under the 2018 Plan and Director Plan is 9,261,229 shares and 300,000 shares, respectively. In connection with the issuance of shares under the 2018 Plan and Director Plan, the Company has registered, in aggregate, 18.7 million and 300,000 shares of common stock, respectively.
The Company has received exemptive relief from the SEC that permits it to issue restricted stock to non-employee directors under the Director Plan and restricted stock and restricted stock units to certain of its employees, officers, and directors (excluding non-employee directors) under the 2018 Plan. The exemptive order also allows participants in the Director Plan and the 2018 Plan to (i) elect to have the Company withhold shares of its common stock to pay for the exercise price and applicable taxes with respect to an option exercise (“net issuance exercise”) and/or (ii) permit the holders of restricted stock to elect to have the Company withhold shares of its stock to pay the applicable taxes due on restricted stock at the time of vesting. Each individual employee would be able to make a cash payment to satisfy applicable tax withholding at the time of option exercise or vesting on restricted stock.
The Company has granted equity-based awards that have service and performance conditions. Certain of the Company’s equity-based awards are classified as liability awards in accordance with ASC Topic 718, Compensation – Stock Compensation. All of the Company’s equity-based awards require future service and are expensed over the relevant service period. The Company does not estimate forfeitures, and reverses all unvested costs associated with equity-awards in the period they are forfeited. For the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024, and 2023, the Company recognized $14.6 million, $12.8 million, and $13.2 million of stock-based compensation expense in the Consolidated Statements of Operations, respectively. As of December 31, 2025 and 2024, approximately $21.0 million and $18.6 million of total unrecognized compensation costs expected to be recognized over the next 2.7 and 2.7 years, respectively.
Service Vesting Awards
The Company grants equity-based awards which have service conditions, which generally begin to vest one-third after one year after the date of grant and ratably over the succeeding two years in accordance with the individual award terms. Certain awards have service conditions of longer duration and may begin to vest up to seven years after the date of grant. These equity-based awards which vest upon achievement of service conditions are collectively referred to as the “Service Vesting Awards”. The grant date fair value of Service Vesting Awards granted during the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024, and 2023, were approximately $17.9 million, $16.8 million and $22.2 million, respectively.
The Company has granted restricted stock equity awards in the form of restricted stock awards and restricted stock units. The Company determines the grant date fair values of restricted stock equity awards using the grant date stock close price. The activities for the Company's unvested restricted stock equity awards for each of the three years ended December 31, 2025, 2024, and 2023 are summarized below:

Year ended, December 31,
2025 2024 2023
Shares
Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value per Share
Shares
Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value per Share
Shares
Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value per Share
Unvested Shares Beginning of Period 2,060,432 $ 12.24  1,880,409 $ 14.52  958,985 $ 16.35 
Granted 994,146 $ 17.86  1,055,861 $ 15.77  1,565,571 $ 14.07 
Vested
(829,282) $ 15.97  (813,183) $ 14.54  (632,575) $ 16.15 
Forfeited (44,703) $ 14.07  (62,655) $ 12.96  (11,572) $ 15.42 
Unvested Shares End of Period 2,180,593 $ 13.35  2,060,432 $ 12.24  1,880,409 $ 14.52 
In addition to the restricted stock equity-based awards, the Company has also issued stock options to certain employees. The fair value of options granted during the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024, and 2023, was approximately $121 thousand, $159 thousand and $148 thousand, respectively. During the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024, and 2023, approximately $128 thousand, $133 thousand, and $105 thousand of share-based cost due to stock option grants was expensed, respectively.
Performance-Vesting Awards
The Company has granted equity-based awards, which have market and performance conditions in addition to a service condition (“Performance Awards”). The value of these awards may increase dependent on increases to the Company’s total stockholder return (“TSR”). As of December 31, 2025, 2024, or 2023, there were no unvested Performance Awards.
During the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024, no Performance Awards were granted or vested and no shares of distribution equivalent units (“Performance DEUs”) were issued or vested. During the year ended December 31, 2023, 54,858 Performance DEUs were issued and vested immediately with a grant date fair value of $0.7 million.
Liability Classified Awards
The Company has granted equity-based awards which are subject to both service and performance conditions. These awards are settled either in cash or a fixed dollar value of shares, subject to the terms of each individual award, and therefore classified as liability awards (the “Liability Awards”). As of December 31, 2025, all Liability Awards have vested and have been settled. Generally, if the performance conditions of these types of awards are not met, the total compensation expense related to the Liability Awards may be less than the maximum granted value of the awards. The Company records Liability Awards as deferred compensation within Accounts Payable and Accrued Liabilities included on the Consolidated Statements of Assets and Liabilities.
Certain Liability Awards are structured similar to the Performance Awards and increase in value with corresponding increases to the Company’s TSR and vest after four years. The Company remeasures the value of these awards each period based on the Company’s TSR achieved to date. Certain other Liability Awards are linked to attainment of investment funding goals. The Company determines the fair value of these Liability Awards based on the expected probability of the performance conditions being met and recognized over the service period. The Company accrues for Liability Awards based on the expected probability that the performance conditions would be met, this assumption is re-evaluated each period, and may be adjusted to reflect changes in this assumption. Generally, the other Liability Awards vest over a three years service term.
During the year ended December 31, 2025, no compensation expense related to the Liability Awards was recognized in the Consolidated Statements of Operations and no Liability Awards vested. As of December 31, 2025, no amounts remain outstanding.
During the year ended December 31, 2024, approximately $0.5 million of compensation expense related to the Liability Awards was recognized in the Consolidated Statements of Operations and $3.1 million Liability Awards vested. As of December 31, 2024, no amounts remain outstanding.