Earnings Per Common Share

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2016

Basic and diluted earnings per common share are computed by dividing net income by the weighted-average number of basic and diluted common shares outstanding, respectively. The weighted-average number of diluted common shares includes the impact of dilutive securities, including unvested, unexercised stock options and unvested restricted stock. The table below reconciles the weighted-average basic and diluted common shares outstanding for 2016, 2015 and 2014:



	Year Ended December 31, 2016
	2016	2015	2014
	(in thousands)
Weighted average number of common shares outstanding - basic	72,754	71,826	70,616
Effect of dilutive securities⁽¹⁾	720	686	725
Weighted average number of common shares outstanding - diluted	73,474	72,512	71,341

⁽¹⁾ Certain outstanding stock options awards are anti-dilutive and were therefore excluded from the calculation of the weighted average number of diluted common shares outstanding. For the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014, the computation excluded options to purchase 0.5 million, 0.9 million and 0.5 million shares, having weighted average exercise prices of $34.14, $29.34 and $27.97, respectively.