Weighted Average Common Shares

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2017

10. WEIGHTED AVERAGE COMMON SHARES

Basic net income per share is calculated by dividing net income by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding for the period. Diluted earnings per share is computed by dividing net income by the weighted average number of shares assuming dilution. Dilutive common shares outstanding is computed using the Treasury Stock Method and reflects the additional shares that would be outstanding if dilutive stock options were exercised and restricted stock units were settled for common shares during the period.

The weighted average number of common shares used to compute basic and diluted net income per share for the quarters ended March 31, 2017 and 2016 were as follows:

	For the Quarter Ended March 31,
	2017		2016
Basic common shares outstanding		68,578		68,155
Common stock equivalents		1,741		643
Diluted common shares outstanding		70,319		68,798

For the quarters ended March 31, 2017 and 2016, certain unexercised stock option awards are excluded from our computations of diluted earnings per share, as these shares were out-of-the-money and their effect would have been anti-dilutive. The anti-dilutive options that were excluded from our computations of diluted earnings per share were 1.1 million and 2.5 million shares for the quarters ended March 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively.