. in addition , outside directors can elect to have director fees paid in stock or can elect to defer payment of stock . compensation cost is expensed at the time of an award based on the fair value of a share at the date of the award . in 2017 , 2016 and 2015 , we awarded 15311 , 16471 and 19695 shares of company common stock to outside directors with a weighted average fair value on the date of the award of $ 63.43 , $ 57.37 and $ 46.21 , respectively . 14