notes to consolidated financial statements ( continued ) 17 . pension plans and postretirement health care and life insurance benefit plans ( continued ) benefit payments the following table sets forth amounts of benefits expected to be paid over the next ten years from the company 2019s pension and postretirement plans as of december 31 , 2004: .
what was the average shares the company granted of common stock from 2002 to 2004
18 . stock compensation plans on may 18 , 2000 , the shareholders of the hartford approved the hartford incentive stock plan ( the 201c2000 plan 201d ) , which replaced the hartford 1995 incentive stock plan ( the 201c1995 plan 201d ) . the terms of the 2000 plan were substantially similar to the terms of the 1995 plan except that the 1995 plan had an annual award limit and a higher maximum award limit . under the 2000 plan , awards may be granted in the form of non-qualified or incentive stock options qualifying under section 422a of the internal revenue code , performance shares or restricted stock , or any combination of the foregoing . in addition , stock appreciation rights may be granted in connection with all or part of any stock options granted under the 2000 plan . in december 2004 , the 2000 plan was amended to allow for grants of restricted stock units effective as of january 1 , 2005 . the aggregate number of shares of stock , which may be awarded , is subject to a maximum limit of 17211837 shares applicable to all awards for the ten-year duration of the 2000 plan . all options granted have an exercise price equal to the market price of the company 2019s common stock on the date of grant , and an option 2019s maximum term is ten years and two days . certain options become exercisable over a three year period commencing one year from the date of grant , while certain other options become exercisable upon the attainment of specified market price appreciation of the company 2019s common shares . for any year , no individual employee may receive an award of options for more than 1000000 shares . as of december 31 , 2004 , the hartford had not issued any incentive stock options under the 2000 plan . performance awards of common stock granted under the 2000 plan become payable upon the attainment of specific performance goals achieved over a period of not less than one nor more than five years , and the restricted stock granted is subject to a restriction period . on a cumulative basis , no more than 20% ( 20 % ) of the aggregate number of shares which may be awarded under the 2000 plan are available for performance shares and restricted stock awards . also , the maximum award of performance shares for any individual employee in any year is 200000 shares . in 2004 , 2003 and 2002 , the company granted shares of common stock of 315452 , 333712 and 40852 with weighted average prices of $ 64.93 , $ 38.13 and $ 62.28 , respectively , related to performance share and restricted stock awards . in 1996 , the company established the hartford employee stock purchase plan ( 201cespp 201d ) . under this plan , eligible employees of the hartford may purchase common stock of the company at a 15% ( 15 % ) discount from the lower of the closing market price at the beginning or end of the quarterly offering period . the company may sell up to 5400000 shares of stock to eligible employees under the espp . in 2004 , 2003 and 2002 , 345262 , 443467 and 408304 shares were sold , respectively . the per share weighted average fair value of the discount under the espp was $ 9.31 , $ 11.96 , and $ 11.70 in 2004 , 2003 and 2002 , respectively . additionally , during 1997 , the hartford established employee stock purchase plans for certain employees of the company 2019s international subsidiaries . under these plans , participants may purchase common stock of the hartford at a fixed price at the end of a three-year period . the activity under these programs is not material. .