Earnings Per Common Share

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2017

EARNINGS PER COMMON SHARE

Reconciliations of the numerators and denominators used in the computations of basic and diluted earnings per common share were as follows, in millions:



	Three Months Ended March 31,
	2017		2016
Numerator (basic and diluted):
Net income	$	140	$	109
Less: Allocation to unvested restricted stock awards	1		1
Net income available to common shareholders	$	139	$	108

Denominator:
Basic common shares (based upon weighted average)	317		330
Add: Stock option dilution	4		3
Diluted common shares	321		333

For the three-month periods ended March 31, 2017 and 2016, we allocated dividends and undistributed earnings to the unvested restricted stock awards.

Additionally, 221,000 and 1 million common shares for the three-month periods ended March 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively, related to stock options were excluded from the computation of diluted earnings per common share due to their antidilutive effect.

On September 30, 2014, we announced that our Board of Directors authorized the repurchase of up to 50 million shares for retirement of our common stock in open-market transactions or otherwise. In the first three months of 2017, we repurchased and retired 2.8 million shares of our common stock (including 0.8 million shares to offset the dilutive impact of long-term stock awards granted in the first quarter), for approximately $92 million, of which $87 million was paid in cash during the first three months of 2017. At March 31, 2017, we had 10.1 million shares remaining under the authorization.

On the basis of amounts paid (declared), cash dividends per common share were $0.100 ($0.100) and $0.095 ($0.095) for the three-month periods ended March 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively.