Earnings Per Share ("EPS")

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2019

EARNINGS PER SHARE (“EPS”)

Basic EPS is computed by dividing reported net income available to common stockholders by weighted average number of common shares outstanding during each period. Diluted EPS is computed by dividing reported net income available to common stockholders by the weighted average common shares and all potential dilutive common shares outstanding during the period.

The computation of earnings per share is as follows:



	Three Months Ended June 30,				Six Months Ended June 30,
(In thousands, except per share data)	2019		2018		2019		2018
Net income available to common stockholders	$	55,598	$	53,562	$	103,293	$	104,874

Average common shares outstanding	96,098		92,264		94,318		92,223
Average potential dilutive common shares	270		469		270		469
Average diluted common shares	96,368		92,733		94,588		92,692

Basic earnings per share	$	0.58	$	0.58	$	1.10	$	1.14
Diluted earnings per share	$	0.58	$	0.58	$	1.09	$	1.13

There were 6,610 stock options excluded from the three months ended June 30, 2019 earnings per share calculation due to the average market price exceeding the related exercise price. There were no stock options excluded from the earnings per share calculations for the three months ended June 30, 2018 and the six months ended June 30, 2019 and 2018 due to the related exercise price exceeding the average market price for those periods.