Earnings Per Share

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2019

Earnings and Dividends Per Share

Earnings Per Share

20. Earnings Per Share

	Years Ended December 31,
($ in millions, except per share amounts; shares in thousands)	2019		2018		2017
Net earnings attributable to Ball Corporation	$	566	$	454	$	374
Basic weighted average common shares		331,102		344,796		350,269
Effect of dilutive securities		9,019		7,525		6,716
Weighted average shares applicable to diluted earnings per share		340,121		352,321		356,985
Per basic share	$	1.71	$	1.32	$	1.07
Per diluted share	$	1.66	$	1.29	$	1.05

Certain outstanding options and SSARs were excluded from the diluted earnings per share calculation because they were anti-dilutive (i.e., the sum of the proceeds, including the unrecognized compensation, exceeded the average closing stock price for the period). The excluded options and SSARs totaled approximately 4 million in 2018 and 2 million in 2017.

The company declared and paid dividends of $0.55 per share in 2019, $0.40 per share in 2018 and $0.365 in 2017.