The Company has certain stock option plans under which it may awards incentive stock options (“ISOs”) and/or non-qualified stock options (“NQSOs”) to employees, officers, outside directors, and outside consultants.

On January 17, 2019 the Company granted 105,000 ISOs from the 2017 Stock Option Plan (“2017 Plan”) to certain employees, which included our named executive officers as follows: 25,000 ISOs to our Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”); 15,000 ISOs to our Chief Financial Officer (“CFO”); and 15,000 ISOs to our Executive Vice President (“EVP”) of Strategic Initiatives. The ISOs granted were for a contractual term of six years with one-fifth vesting annually over a five year period. The exercise price of the ISO was $3.15 per share, which was equal to the fair market value of the Company’s Common Stock on the date of grant.

On July 25, 2019, the Company granted an aggregate of 12,000 NQSOs from the Company’s 2003 Outside Directors Stock Plan (“2003 Plan”) to five of the six re-elected directors at the Company’s Annual Meeting of Stockholders held on July 25, 2019. Dr. Louis F. Centofanti (a Board member) was not eligible to receive options under the 2003 Plan as an employee of the Company, pursuant to the 2003 Plan. The NQSOs granted were for a contractual term of ten years with a vesting period of six months. The exercise price of the NQSO was $3.31 per share, which was equal to our closing stock price the day preceding the grant date, pursuant to the 2003 Plan.

On August 29, 2019 the Company granted an aggregate of 12,500 ISOs from the 2017 Plan to certain employees. The ISOs granted were for a contractual term of six years with one-fifth vesting annually over a five year period. The exercise price of the ISO was $3.90 per share, which was equal to the fair market value of the Company’s Common Stock on the date of grant.

On January 18, 2018, the Company granted 6,000 NQSOs from the Company’s 2003 Plan to a new director elected by the Company’s Board of Directors (“Board”) to fill a vacancy on the Board. The NQSOs granted were for a contractual term of ten years with a vesting period of six months. The exercise price of the options was $4.05 per share, which was equal to our closing stock price the day preceding the grant date, pursuant to the 2003 Plan.

On July 26, 2018, the Company granted an aggregate of 12,000 NQSOs from the Company’s 2003 Plan to five of the six re-elected directors at the Annual Meeting. Dr. Louis F. Centofanti (a Board member) was not eligible to receive options under the 2003 Plan as an employee of the Company, pursuant to the 2003 Plan. The NQSOs granted were for a contractual term of ten years with a vesting period of six months. The exercise price of the NQSO was $4.30 per share, which was equal to our closing stock price the day preceding the grant date, pursuant to the 2003 Plan.

The Company granted a NQSO to Robert Ferguson on July 27, 2017 from the Company’s 2017 Plan for the purchase of up to 100,000 shares of the Company’s Common Stock (“Ferguson Stock Option”) in connection with his work as a consultant to the Company’s Test Bed Initiative (“TBI”) at our Perma-Fix Northwest Richland, Inc. (“PFNWR”) facility. The vesting of the Ferguson Stock Option is subject to the achievement of three separate milestones by certain dates. On January 17, 2019, the Company’s Compensation and Stock Option Committee (“Compensation Committee”) and Board approved an amendment to the Ferguson Stock Option whereby the vesting date for the second milestone was extended to March 31, 2020 from January 27, 2019. The 10,000 options under the first milestone were vested and exercised by Robert Ferguson in May 2018. All other terms of the Ferguson Stock Option remain unchanged.

The Company estimates fair value of stock options using the Black-Scholes valuation model. Assumptions used to estimate the fair value of stock options granted include the exercise price of the award, the expected term, the expected volatility of the Company’s stock over the option’s expected term, the risk-free interest rate over the option’s expected term, and the expected annual dividend yield. The fair value of the options granted as discussed above and the related assumptions used in the Black-Scholes option model used to value the options granted were as follows:

⁽¹⁾ The risk-free interest rate is based on the U.S. Treasury yield in effect at the grant date over the expected term of the option.

⁽²⁾ The expected volatility is based on historical volatility from our traded Common Stock over the expected term of the option.

⁽³⁾ The expected option life is based on historical exercises and post-vesting data.

The following table summarizes stock-based compensation recognized for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018 for our employee and director stock options.

At September 30, 2019, the Company has approximately $480,000 of total unrecognized compensation cost related to unvested options for employee and directors, of which $49,000 is expected to be recognized in remaining 2019, $147,000 in 2020, $143,000 in 2021, $104,000 in 2022, $33,000 in 2023, with the remaining $4,000 in 2024. At September 30, 2019, the Company has not recognized compensation costs (fair value of approximately $148,000 at September 30, 2019) for the remaining 90,000 Ferguson Stock Option discussed above since achievement of the performance obligation under each of the two remaining milestones is uncertain at September 30, 2019.

The summary of the Company’s total Stock Option Plans as of September 30, 2019 and September 30, 2018, and changes during the periods then ended, are presented below. The Company’s Plans consist of the 2010 Stock Option Plan, the 2017 Plans and the 2003 Plan:

⁽¹⁾ Options with exercise prices ranging from $2.79 to $13.35

⁽²⁾ The intrinsic value of a stock option is the amount by which the market value of the underlying stock exceeds the exercise price

During the nine months ended September 30, 2019, the Company issued a total of 58,203 shares of its Common Stock under the 2003 Plan to its outside directors as compensation for serving on our Board. The Company has recorded approximately $182,000 in compensation expenses (included in selling, general and administration (“SG&A”) expenses) in connection with the issuance of shares of its Common Stock to outside directors.