Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2016

Summary of Significant Accounting Policies [Abstract]

Activity for Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets

The following table presents activity for goodwill and other intangible assets:

	Goodwill			Core deposit and other intangible assets			Total
Balance at December 31, 2015	$	432,232		$	10,540		$	442,772
Acquisitions		122,672			8,845			131,517
Amortization		-			(4,281	)		(4,281	)
Change in purchase price allocation of previous acquisitions		(3,125	)		-			(3,125	)
Other changes(1)		(185	)		-			(185	)
Balance at December 31, 2016	$	551,594		$	15,104		$	566,698

⁽¹⁾ Represents options exercised related to acquisitions which occurred prior to the adoption of ASC 718-20 Compensation.

Gross Carrying Amount and Accumulated Amortization for the Core Deposit and Other Intangible Assets

The following table presents the gross carrying amount and accumulated amortization for the core deposit and other intangible assets, which are subject to amortization:

	December 31, 2016			December 31, 2015
Gross carrying amount	$	42,365		$	33,520
Accumulated amortization		(27,261	)		(22,980	)
Net book value		15,104			10,540

Supplemental Cash Flow Information

Cash Equivalents and Cash Flows — Cash on hand, cash items in process of collection, amounts due from banks, Federal funds sold, short-term discount notes and securities purchased under agreements to resell, with original maturities within ninety days, are included in cash and cash equivalents.  The following supplemental cash flow information addresses certain cash payments and noncash transactions for each of the years in the three-year period ended December 31, 2016 as follows:

	For the years ended December 31,
	2016		2015		2014
Cash Payments:
Interest	$	37,002,870	$	17,435,292	$	13,414,134
Income taxes paid		49,503,637		45,715,968		31,350,000
Noncash Transactions:
Loans charged-off to the allowance for loan losses		31,112,118		21,148,034		7,702,661
Loans foreclosed upon with repossessions transferred to other real estate		4,453,060		341,342		4,649,852
Loans foreclosed upon with repossessions transferred to other repossessed assets		1,842,318		8,259,368		2,262,573
Common stock issued in connection with acquisitions		222,162,640		269,492,990		-

Basic and Diluted Earnings Per Share Calculations

The following is a summary of the basic and diluted earnings per share calculation for each of the years in the three-year period ended December 31, 2016:

	December 31, 2016		December 31, 2015		December 31, 2014
Basic earnings per share calculation:
Numerator - Net income	$	127,224,695	$	95,509,402	$	70,471,167
Denominator – Weighted average common shares outstanding		43,037,083		37,015,468		34,723,335
Basic net income per common share	$	2.96	$	2.58	$	2.03
Diluted earnings per share calculation:
Numerator - Net income	$	127,224,695	$	95,509,402	$	70,471,167
Denominator – Weighted average common shares outstanding		43,037,083		37,015,468		34,723,335
Dilutive shares contingently issuable		694,909		958,320		403,555
Weighted average diluted common shares outstanding		43,731,992		37,973,788		35,126,890
Diluted net income per common share	$	2.91	$	2.52	$	2.01