Earnings Per Share

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2016

The computation of basic and diluted earnings per common share is as follows:



	Year Ended December 31,
	2016			2015			2014
	(in thousands, except per share amounts)
Computation of Basic Earnings Per Share:
Numerator:
Net income from continuing operations	$	139,371		$	128,029		$	121,473
Net income from discontinued operations	—			—			1,687
Net income	139,371			128,029			123,160
Income allocated to participating securities	(975		)	(889		)	(1,075		)
Net income available to common shareholders	$	138,396		$	127,140		$	122,085
Denominator
Weighted average common shares outstanding -- basic	55,872			56,814			57,730
Basic earnings per share -- Continuing operations	$	2.48		$	2.24		$	2.08
Basic earnings per share -- Discontinued operations	—			—			0.03
	$	2.48		$	2.24		$	2.11

Computation of Diluted Earnings Per Share:
Numerator:
Net income from continuing operations	$	139,371		$	128,029		$	121,473
Net income from discontinued operations	—			—			1,687
Net income	139,371			128,029			123,160
Income allocated to participating securities	(972		)	(884		)	(1,069		)
Net income available to common shareholders	$	138,399		$	127,145		$	122,091
Denominator:
Weighted average common shares outstanding -- basic	55,872			56,814			57,730
Diluted effect of stock options and PVRSUs	283			459			526
Weighted average commons shares outstanding -- diluted	56,155			57,273			58,256

Diluted earnings per share -- Continuing operations	$	2.46		$	2.22		$	2.07
Diluted earnings per share -- Discontinued operations	—			—			0.03
	$	2.46		$	2.22		$	2.10

The Company’s unvested restricted shares contain rights to receive non-forfeitable dividends and thus are participating securities requiring the two-class method of computing earnings per share ("EPS"). The calculation of EPS for common stock shown above excludes the income attributable to the unvested restricted share awards from the numerator and excludes the dilutive impact of those awards from the denominator.

At December 31, 2016, 2015, and 2014, the Company had 2.2 million, 2.1 million and 1.9 million outstanding stock options, respectively. Stock options are included in the diluted earnings per share calculation using the treasury stock method and average market prices during the period, unless the stock options would be anti-dilutive. For the year ended December 31, 2016 and 2015, the Company excluded 1.2 million and 0.5 million of anti-dilutive stock option from the diluted earning per share calculation. For the year ended December 31, 2014, no anti-dilutive stock options were excluded from the diluted earnings per share calculation.

PVRSUs are also included in the diluted earnings per share calculation if the performance conditions have been met at the reporting date. However, at December 31, 2016, 2015, and 2014, PVRSUs totaling 210,258, 178,536 and 161,810 respectively, were excluded from the computation since the performance conditions had not been met.