EARNINGS PER COMMON SHARE

12 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2019

Earnings per common share is computed after deducting any preferred dividends, if applicable. The Company has granted restricted share awards with dividend rights that are considered to be participating securities. Accordingly, a portion of the Company’s earnings is allocated to those participating securities in the earnings per share calculation. Basic earnings per common share is computed by dividing income available to common stockholders after the allocation of dividends and undistributed earnings to the participating securities by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding for the period. Diluted earnings per common share reflects the potential dilution that could occur if securities or other contracts to issue common stock were exercised, and is computed after giving consideration to the weighted average dilutive effect of the Company’s stock options and after the allocation of earnings to the participating securities. Antidilutive options are disregarded in earnings per share calculations.

A reconciliation of net income and common stock share amounts used in the computation of basic and diluted earnings per share for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2019, 2018 and 2017 is presented below.



(Dollars in Thousands, Except Share and Per Share Data)	2019		2018		2017
Basic income per common share:
Net income attributable to Meta Financial Group, Inc.	$	97,004	$	51,620	$	44,917
Weighted average common shares outstanding	38,880,919		30,737,499		27,741,276
Basic income per common share	$	2.49	$	1.68	$	1.62

Diluted income per common share:
Net income attributable to Meta Financial Group, Inc.	$	97,004	$	51,620	$	44,917
Weighted average common shares outstanding	38,880,919		30,737,499		27,741,276
Outstanding options - based upon the two-class method	40,718		115,551		166,956
Weighted average diluted common shares outstanding	38,921,637		30,853,050		27,908,232
Diluted income per common share	$	2.49	$	1.67	$	1.61