Earnings Per Common Share

The following table shows the calculation of both basic and diluted earnings per common share for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017:



	Three Months Ended September 30,				Nine Months Ended September 30,
	2018		2017		2018		2017
	(in thousands, except for share data)
Net income available to common shareholders	$	66,387	$	36,966	$	174,810	$	129,532
Basic weighted average number of common shares outstanding	331,486,500		264,058,174		331,180,213		263,938,786
Plus: Common stock equivalents	1,513,742		878,046		1,513,867		816,059
Diluted weighted average number of common shares outstanding	333,000,242		264,936,220		332,694,080		264,754,845
Earnings per common share:
Basic	$	0.20	$	0.14	$	0.53	$	0.49
Diluted	0.20		0.14		0.53		0.49

Common stock equivalents represent the dilutive effect of additional common shares issuable upon the assumed vesting or exercise, if applicable, of restricted stock units, common stock options and warrants to purchase Valley’s common shares. Common stock options and warrants with exercise prices that exceed the average market price of Valley’s common stock during the periods presented have an anti-dilutive effect on the diluted earnings per common share calculation and therefore are excluded from the diluted earnings per share calculation. Anti-dilutive warrants and, to a lesser extent, common stock options equaled approximately 2.9 million and 3.3 million shares for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017, respectively.