Earnings Per Share

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2015

Earnings Per Share

Earnings Per Share

(7)Earnings Per Share

Basic earnings per common share (EPS) is computed by dividing net income available to common shareholders by the weighted-average number of common shares outstanding for the period, without considering any dilutive items. 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 Company.  Stock options to purchase 3,744,878 shares of common stock with a weighted average exercise price of $12.43 per share were outstanding during the quarter ended March 31, 2015 but were not included in the computation of diluted earnings per share because the options’ exercise price was greater than the average market price of the common shares of $11.89.  All stock options outstanding during the quarter ended March 31, 2014 were included in the computation of diluted earnings per share because the stock options’ exercise price was less than the average market price of the common shares of $14.47 during the quarter.

The computation of basic and diluted earnings per share follows (in thousands, except share data and per share amounts):

	Quarter ended
	March 31,
	2015		2014
Reported net income	$	16,170	14,611
Weighted average common shares outstanding	91,634,064		91,154,998
Dilutive potential shares due to effect of stock options	268,007		1,198,314
Total weighted average common shares and dilutive potential shares	91,902,071		92,353,312
Basic earnings per share:	$	0.18	0.16
Diluted earnings per share:	$	0.18	0.16