COMMON STOCK

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2011

Common Stock [Abstract]

Common Stock

COMMON STOCK:

The following shares were issued and outstanding at September 30:

	2011
Beginning Balance, January 1	29,872,825
New Issues During Period:
Dividend Reinvestment Plan	105,524
Stock-Based Compensation Plan	81,491
Ending Balance, September 30	30,059,840

The par value ($1.25 per share) of stock issued was recorded in Common Stock and the net excess over par value of approximately $7.1 million was recorded in Premium on Common Stock.

EARNINGS PER COMMON SHARE (EPS) — Basic EPS is based on the weighted-average number of common shares outstanding.  The incremental shares required for inclusion in the denominator for the diluted EPS calculation were 127,064 for the three months ended September 30, 2010, and 84,072 and 105,056 shares for the nine months ended September 30, 2011 and 2010, respectively. For the three months ended September 30, 2011, incremental shares of 76,257 were not included in the denominator for the diluted EPS calculation because they would have an antidilutive effect on EPS. These shares relate to SJI’s restricted stock as discussed in Note 2.

DIVIDENDS DECLARED – During the first six months of 2011 and the first six months of 2010, SJI declared quarterly dividends to its common shareholders that were payable in April and July of each year.  In June 2010, SJI also declared its normal quarterly dividend that was payable in October 2010.  During 2011, SJI did not declare its October dividend until July 2011.  Consequently, Dividends Declared per Common Share on the condensed consolidated statements of income for the three months ended September 30, 2010 does not include the impact of the October 2010 dividend declaration, causing it to be lower than those declared for the three months ended September 30, 2011.

DIVIDEND REINVESTMENT PLAN (DRP) —The Company offers a DRP which allows participating shareholders to purchase shares of SJI common stock by the automatic reinvestment of dividends or optional purchases. From April 2008 through April 2011, shares of common stock offered by the DRP have been purchased in open market transactions.  Beginning in May 2011, shares of common stock offered by the DRP have been issued directly by SJI from its authorized but unissued shares of common stock.