The following table summarizes the share transactions for the three years ended December 31, 2020 (in thousands, except for share data):

	Shares Issued		Shares in Treasury
Balance January 1, 2018		55,056,730		(5,161,740	)
Accelerated Share Repurchase Program		—		(780,321	)
Purchase of Treasury Stock		—		(401,038	)
Sale of Treasury Stock		—		14,631
Issued for stock options and restricted stock		—		388,960
Balance December 31, 2018		55,056,730		(5,939,508	)
Purchase of Treasury Stock		—		(124,109	)
Sale of Treasury Stock		—		12,968
Issued for stock options and restricted stock		—		91,525
Balance December 31, 2019		55,056,730		(5,959,124	)
Accelerated Share Repurchase Program		—		(653,498	)
Purchase of Treasury Stock		—		(563,830	)
Sale of Treasury Stock		—		11,372
Issued for stock options and restricted stock		—		114,736
Balance December 31, 2020		55,056,730		(7,050,344	)

The Board authorized the repurchase of up to 2 million shares of common stock annually at its 2018, 2019 and 2020 meetings. During 2018, the Company entered into an agreement with BAML to repurchase an aggregate of $50.0 million of the Company’s common stock through an ASR. Under the ASR, the Company repurchased a total of 780,321 shares. The final settlement of the transactions under the ASR occurred in December 2018. Additionally, during 2020, the Company entered into an agreement with BAML to repurchase an aggregate of $30.0 million of the Company’s common stock through an ASR. Under the ASR, the Company repurchased a total of 653,498 shares. The final settlement of the transactions under the ASR occurred in the second quarter of 2020. Other than purchases pursuant to the ASR, all share purchases pursuant to the Repurchase Authorizations are intended to be within the scope of Rule 10b-18 promulgated under the Exchange Act. Rule 10b-18 provides a safe harbor for purchases in a given day if the Company satisfies the manner, timing and volume conditions of the rule when purchasing its own common shares. The Company has not made any repurchase of its securities other than pursuant to the Repurchase Authorizations.

Basic earnings per share are computed by dividing income available to common shareholders by the weighted average number of shares outstanding during the year. Diluted earnings per share gives effect to all potential common shares that were outstanding during the year.

The shares used in the calculation of basic and diluted earnings per share, are shown below:

	For the Years Ended December 31,
	2020		2019		2018
Weighted average basic common shares outstanding		48,137,791		48,779,263		49,334,937
Dilutive effect of stock options and restricted stock		205,959		310,614		435,800
Weighted average diluted common shares outstanding		48,343,750		49,089,877		49,770,737