Earnings per Share

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2015

18. Earnings per Share

The following table sets forth a reconciliation of the information used in computing basic and diluted earnings per share:



	Three Months Ended September 30,					Nine Months Ended September 30,
	2015			2014		2015		2014
Earnings from continuing operations	$	186,483		$	225,683	$	459,307	$	606,305
Earnings (loss) from discontinued operations, net	(385		)	6,161		268,697		(364		)
Net earnings	$	186,098		$	231,844	$	728,004	$	605,941

Basic earnings (loss) per common share:
Earnings from continuing operations	$	1.20		$	1.36	$	2.90	$	3.62
Earnings (loss) from discontinued operations, net	$	—		$	0.04	$	1.70	$	—
Net earnings	$	1.20		$	1.40	4.59		$	3.62

Weighted average shares outstanding	155,300,000			166,021,000		158,507,000		167,401,000

Diluted earnings (loss) per common share:
Earnings from continuing operations	$	1.19		$	1.34	$	2.87	$	3.57
Earnings (loss) from discontinued operations, net	$	—		$	0.04	$	1.68	$	—
Net earnings	$	1.19		$	1.38	$	4.55	$	3.57

Weighted average shares outstanding	156,560,000			168,343,000		160,112,000		169,761,000

The following table is a reconciliation of the share amounts used in computing earnings per share:



	Three Months Ended September 30,		Nine Months Ended September 30,
	2015	2014	2015	2014
Weighted average shares outstanding - Basic	155,300,000	166,021,000	158,507,000	167,401,000
Dilutive effect of assumed exercise of employee stock options and SARs and vesting of performance shares	1,260,000	2,322,000	1,605,000	2,360,000
Weighted average shares outstanding - Diluted	156,560,000	168,343,000	160,112,000	169,761,000

Diluted per share amounts are computed using the weighted-average number of common shares and, if dilutive, potential common shares outstanding during the period. Potential common shares consist of the incremental common shares issuable upon the exercise of stock options and SARs, and vesting of performance shares and restricted shares, as determined using the treasury stock method.

The weighted average number of anti-dilutive potential common shares excluded from the calculation above were approximately 47,000 and 54,000 for the three months ended September 30, 2015 and 2014, respectively, and 44,000 and 10,000 for the nine months ended September 30, 2014, respectively.