EARNINGS PER COMMON SHARE AND DIVIDENDS PER SHARE (Tables)

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2021

Schedule of weighted average shares outstanding used to calculate basic and diluted earnings per common share

Weighted average shares outstanding used to calculate basic and diluted earnings per share are as follows:


	Three months ended June 30,		Six months ended June 30,
	2021	2020	2021	2020
(number of shares in millions)
Weighted average shares outstanding	2,024	2,019	2,023	2,019
Effect of dilutive options	2	1	1	2
Diluted weighted average shares outstanding	2,026	2,020	2,024	2,021

Schedule of preferred stock characteristics by class

On July 27, 2021, our Board of Directors declared the following quarterly dividends. All dividends are payable on September 1, 2021 to shareholders of record on August 13, 2021.


			Dividend per share
Common Shares1			$0.83500
Preference Shares, Series A			$0.34375
Preference Shares, Series B			$0.21340
Preference Shares, Series C2			$0.15753
Preference Shares, Series D			$0.27875
Preference Shares, Series F			$0.29306
Preference Shares, Series H			$0.27350
Preference Shares, Series J			US$0.30540
Preference Shares, Series L			US$0.30993
Preference Shares, Series N			$0.31788
Preference Shares, Series P			$0.27369
Preference Shares, Series R			$0.25456
Preference Shares, Series 1			US$0.37182
Preference Shares, Series 3			$0.23356
Preference Shares, Series 5			US$0.33596
Preference Shares, Series 7			$0.27806
Preference Shares, Series 9			$0.25606
Preference Shares, Series 11			$0.24613
Preference Shares, Series 13			$0.19019
Preference Shares, Series 15			$0.18644
Preference Shares, Series 17			$0.32188
Preference Shares, Series 19			$0.30625

1 The quarterly dividend per common share was increased 3% to $0.835 from $0.81, effective March 1, 2021.

2 The quarterly dividend per share paid on Series C was increased to $0.15501 from $0.15349 on March 1, 2021, and increased to $0.15753 from $0.15501 on June 1, 2021, due to reset on a quarterly basis following the date of issuance of the Series C Preference Shares.