Net income per common share

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2019

Earnings Per Share

Net Income (Loss) Per Common Share

Note 27 – Net income per common shareThe following table sets forth the computation of net income per common share (“EPS”), basic and diluted, for the quarters and nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018:

	Quarters ended September 30,				Nine months ended September 30,
(In thousands, except per share information)	2019		2018		2019		2018
Net income	$	165,319	$	140,648	$	504,350	$	511,755
Preferred stock dividends		(930)		(930)		(2,792)		(2,792)
Net income applicable to common stock	$	164,389	$	139,718	$	501,558	$	508,963
Average common shares outstanding		96,357,117		101,067,300		97,073,177		101,549,711
Average potential dilutive common shares		121,210		181,854		139,219		182,219
Average common shares outstanding - assuming dilution		96,478,327		101,249,154		97,212,396		101,731,930
Basic EPS	$	1.71	$	1.38	$	5.17	$	5.01
Diluted EPS	$	1.70	$	1.38	$	5.16	$	5.00

As disclosed in Note 19, during the quarter ended March 31, 2019, the Corporation entered into a $250 million accelerated share repurchase transaction (“ASR”) and, in connection therewith, received an initial delivery of 3,500,000 shares of common stock. The initial share delivery was accounted for as a treasury stock transaction. As part of this transaction, the Corporation entered into a forward contract, which remains outstanding as of September 30, 2019, for which the Corporation expects to receive additional shares upon termination of the ASR agreement. The diluted EPS computation for the quarter and nine months ended September 30, 2019 excludes 1,189,974 and 1,184,666 antidilutive shares, respectively, related to the ASR.

For the quarter and nine months ended September 30, 2019, the Corporation calculated the impact of potential dilutive common shares under the treasury stock method, consistent with the method used for the preparation of the financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2018. For a discussion of the calculation under the treasury stock method, refer to Note 32 of the Consolidated Financial Statements included in the 2018 Form 10-K.