NOTE 12—EARNINGS PER SHARE

The following weighted average shares and share equivalents are used to calculate basic and diluted earnings per share for years ended December 31, 2017, 2016, and 2015:


	For the year ended December 31,
(in thousands)	2017	2016	2015
Weighted average number of shares outstanding used to calculate basic earnings per share	30,014	29,432	29,754

Dilutive securities
Unvested restricted shares and restricted share units	1,406	1,403	952
Stock options	785	337	243
Weighted average number of shares and share equivalents outstanding used to calculate diluted earnings per share	32,205	31,172	30,949

The assumed proceeds used for calculating the dilutive impact of restricted stock awards under the treasury method includes the unrecognized compensation costs associated with the awards. The following table presents any average outstanding options to purchase shares of common stock and average restricted shares that were not included in the computation of diluted earnings per share because the effect would have been anti-dilutive (the exercise price of the options or the grant date market price of the restricted shares was greater than the average market price of the Company’s shares during the periods presented).


	For the year ended December 31,
(in thousands)	2017	2016	2015
Average options	99	181	—
Average restricted shares	6	181	14

Under the 2015 Equity Incentive Plan, subject to the Company’s approval, grantees have the option of electing to satisfy tax withholding obligations at the time of vesting or exercise by allowing the Company to withhold and purchase the shares of stock otherwise issuable to the grantee. For the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016, and 2015, the Company repurchased and retired 0.2 million, 0.2 million, and 0.2 million restricted shares at a weighted average market price of $41.21, $22.74, and $20.11, upon grantee vesting, respectively. For the year ended December 31, 2017, the Company repurchased and retired 0.3 million restricted share units at a weighted average market price of $39.82. The Company did not repurchase any restricted share units during the years ended December 31, 2016 and 2015.

In the first quarter of 2015, the Company repurchased 3.0 million shares of its common stock from one of its largest stockholders at the time at a price of $15.60 per share, which was below the quoted price at the time, and immediately retired the shares, reducing stockholders’ equity by $46.8 million.

During 2016, the Company repurchased 0.4 million shares of its common stock under a share repurchase program at a weighted average price of $23.11 per share and immediately retired the shares, reducing stockholders’ equity by $9.2 million.

In February 2017, the Company’s Board of Directors approved a stock repurchase program that permits the repurchase of up to $75.0 million of shares of our common stock over a 12-month period beginning on February 10, 2017. During 2017, the Company repurchased 0.3 million shares of its common stock under the share repurchase program at a weighted average price of $47.10 per share and immediately retired the shares, reducing stockholders’ equity by $16.0 million. The Company had $59.0 million of authorized share repurchase capacity remaining as of December 31, 2017.

In February 2018, the Company’s Board of Directors approved a new stock repurchase program that permits the repurchase of up to $50.0 million of shares of our common stock over a 12-month period beginning on February 9, 2018.

In February 2018, the Company’s Board of Directors declared a dividend of $0.25 per share for the first quarter of 2018. The dividend will be paid March 7, 2018 to all holders of record of our restricted and unrestricted common stock and restricted stock units as of February 23, 2018. This dividend represents the first such payment of dividends since the Company’s initial public offering in December 2010. The Company expects this dividend to be an insignificant portion of the Company’s net income for the year ended December 31, 2017, retained earnings as of December 31, 2017, and cash and cash equivalents as of December 31, 2017.

The Term Loan contains direct restrictions to the amount of dividends the Company may pay, and the warehouse debt facilities and agreements with the Agencies contain minimum equity, liquidity, and other capital requirements that indirectly restrict the amount of dividends the Company may pay. The Company does not believe that these restrictions currently limit the amount of dividends the Company can pay for the foreseeable future.