Computation of Earnings Per Share

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2014

Earnings Per Share [Abstract]

COMPUTATION OF EARNINGS PER SHARE

COMPUTATION OF EARNINGS PER SHARE

Basic earnings per share (“EPS”) is computed by dividing net income by the weighted average number of shares of Common Stock outstanding for the period. Diluted EPS reflects the potential dilution of securities that could share in earnings. When the impact of common share equivalents is anti-dilutive, they are excluded from the calculation. The following table sets forth the reconciliation of the basic and diluted earnings per share computations for the years ended December 31 (in thousands, except per share amounts):

	2014		2013		2012
Numerator:
Net income used for calculating basic and diluted earnings per common share	$	183,766	$	182,801	$	165,903
Denominator: (1)
Weighted average number of common shares used in the calculation of basic earnings per share	89,337		93,015		93,444
Common share equivalents associated with stock-based compensation plans	1,382		1,815		2,398
Shares used in the calculation of diluted earnings per share	90,719		94,830		95,842
Earnings per share:
Basic	$	2.06	$	1.97	$	1.78
Diluted	$	2.03	$	1.93	$	1.73

(1) The Company repurchased 5.9 million, 3.4 million, and 2.7 million shares of its Common Stock in 2014, 2013, and 2012, respectively.

The following table presents the number of common share equivalents that were not included in the computation of diluted EPS in the table above because the effect would have been anti-dilutive. During periods with net income, these common share equivalents were anti-dilutive because their exercise price was greater than the average market value of a share of Common Stock during the period.

	2014		2013		2012
Anti-dilutive common share equivalents as of December 31 (in millions):	0.3		0.3		0.7
Average market price per share of Common Stock during the year	$	73.27	$	57.50	$	43.80