Earnings Per Share

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2017

6.	Earnings Per Share

Basic earnings per share (“EPS”) excludes dilution and is computed by dividing income available to common stockholders by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding for the period. Diluted EPS reflects the potential dilution that could occur if securities or other contracts to issue common stock were exercised or converted into common stock or resulted in the issuance of common stock that then shared in the earnings of the entity (such as the Company’s dilutive stock options and restricted stock ).

The following is a reconciliation of basic and diluted EPS for the periods presented in the consolidated statements of income:

	Three months ended March 31,
(In thousands, except per share data)	2017		2016
Basic EPS:
Weighted average common shares outstanding		43,513		43,342
Net income available to common stockholders	$	20,279	$	18,891
Basic EPS	$	0.47	$	0.44

Diluted EPS:
Weighted average common shares outstanding		43,883		43,342
Dilutive effect of common stock options and restricted stock		371		365
Weighted average common shares and common share equivalents		44,254		43,707
Net income available to common stockholders	$	20,279	$	18,891
Diluted EPS	$	0.46	$	0.43

There were 783 and 30,861 stock options for the quarters ended March 31, 2017 and March 31, 2016, respectively, that were not considered in the calculation of diluted EPS since the stock options’ exercise price was greater than the average market price during these periods.