Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Stock-Based Compensation Expense

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Stock-Based Compensation Expense
9 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2014
Disclosure of Compensation Related Costs, Share-based Payments [Abstract]  
Stock-Based Compensation Expense
Stock-Based Compensation Expense
Since the completion of the CHS Transactions on April 30, 2010, the board of directors has adopted and the shareholders have approved two stock option award plans.  The 2010 Thermon Group Holdings, Inc. Restricted Stock and Stock Option Plan (“2010 Plan”) was approved on July 28, 2010.  The 2010 Plan authorized the issuance of 2,767,171 stock options or restricted shares (on a post-stock split basis).  On April 8, 2011, the board of directors approved the Thermon Group Holdings, Inc. 2011 Long-Term Incentive Plan (“2011 LTIP”). The 2011 LTIP made available 2,893,341 shares of the Company’s common stock that may be awarded to employees, directors or non-employee contractors as compensation in the form of stock options, restricted stock awards or restricted stock units. 
At December 31, 2014, there were 475,895 options outstanding.  For the three months ended December 31, 2014 and 2013, stock compensation expense was $930 and $663, respectively, and $2,302 and $1,572 for the nine months ended December 31, 2014 and 2013, respectively.
During the nine months ended December 31, 2014, 93,562 restricted stock units were granted to certain of our employees, 7,945 fully vested shares of common stock were issued to our directors, and a target amount of 46,530 performance stock units were granted to certain members of our senior management. The closing price on the date of the grants ranged from $24.07 to $25.89.
The restricted stock units that were issued to our employees had a total fair value of $2,289 as determined by the closing price of our stock on the date of the grants. The awards will be expensed on a straight-line basis over the 3 year service period. At each anniversary of the restricted stock unit's grant date, a proportionate number of stock units will become vested for the employees and the shares will become issued and outstanding.
We have established a plan to issue our directors awards of fully vested common stock every three months for a total award over a twelve-month period of approximately $385. During the three and nine months ended December 31, 2014, 3,997 and 7,945 fully vested common shares were issued to our directors which had grant date fair values of $96 and $192, respectively. The grant date fair values were determined by the closing price of our common stock on the date of issuance. The fair value of the awards will be expensed on each issuance date.
The performance stock units issued to certain members of our senior management had a total grant date fair value of $1,189. The performance indicator for these stock awards is based on the market performance of our stock price, from the date of grant through March 31, 2017, relative to the market price performance of a pre-determined peer group of companies. Since the performance indicator is market based, we use a Monte-Carlo valuation model to calculate the probable outcome of the performance measure to arrive at the fair value. The requisite service period required to earn all or a portion of the performance stock units ranges from the date of grant through March 31, 2015, March 31, 2016 or March 31, 2017. We will expense the fair value of the performance stock units over the service period on a straight-line basis whether or not the market condition is met. At the end of the performance period, the performance stock units will be evaluated with the requisite number of shares being issued. The possible number of shares that could be issued ranges from zero to 93,060 in the aggregate. Shares that are not awarded at the measurement date will be forfeited.