EARNINGS PER SHARE

The Company computes basic and diluted earnings per share amounts based on net income for the periods presented. The Company uses the weighted average number of common shares outstanding during the period to calculate basic earnings per share, or EPS. Diluted EPS adjusts the weighted average number of shares outstanding to include the dilutive effect of outstanding common stock options and other stock-based awards.

The Company currently has outstanding shares of Class A Common Stock. The Company purchased, at par value, all issued and outstanding shares of Class E Special Voting Common Stock in connection with the exercise of the final tranche of rollover options during the second quarter of fiscal 2016. Class E Special Voting Common Stock shares are not included in the calculation of EPS as these shares represent voting rights only and are not entitled to participate in dividends or other distributions. During fiscal 2015, the Company converted all issued and outstanding shares of Class B Non-Voting Common Stock and Class C Restricted Common Stock into shares of Class A Common Stock on a one-for-one basis. Unvested Class A Restricted Common Stock holders are entitled to participate in non-forfeitable dividends or other distributions. These unvested restricted shares participated in the Company's dividends declared and paid in each quarter of fiscal 2017, 2016, and 2015. As such, EPS is calculated using the two-class method whereby earnings are reduced by distributed earnings as well as any available undistributed earnings allocable to holders of unvested restricted shares. A reconciliation of the income used to compute basic and diluted EPS for the periods presented are as follows:



	Fiscal Year Ended March 31,
	2017		2016		2015
Earnings for basic computations (1)	$	250,231	$	290,542	$	229,093
Weighted-average Class A Common Stock outstanding	148,218,968		146,494,407		144,809,906
Weighted-average Class B Non-Voting Common Stock outstanding	—		—		222,129
Weighted-average Class C Restricted Common Stock outstanding	—		—		382,085
Total weighted-average common shares outstanding for basic computations	148,218,968		146,494,407		145,414,120
Earnings for diluted computations (1)	$	250,249	$	290,596	$	229,101
Dilutive stock options and restricted stock	2,055,672		3,224,730		4,961,411
Average number of common shares outstanding for diluted computations	150,274,640		149,719,137		150,375,531
Earnings per common share
Basic	$	1.69	$	1.98	$	1.58
Diluted	$	1.67	$	1.94	$	1.52

(1) During fiscal 2017, 2016, and 2015 approximately 1.3 million, 1.8 million, and 2.2 million shares of participating securities were paid dividends totaling $0.9 million, $1.0 million, and $3.2 million, respectively. For fiscal 2017 there were undistributed earnings of $1.4 million allocated to the participating class of securities in basic and diluted earnings per share, respectively. For fiscal 2016 there were undistributed earnings of $2.5 million allocated to the participating class of securities in both basic and diluted earnings per share, respectively. For fiscal 2015 there were undistributed earnings of $0.3 million and $0.2 million allocated to the participating class of securities in basic and diluted earnings per share, respectively. The allocated undistributed earnings and the dividends paid comprise the difference between net income presented on the consolidated statements of operations and earnings for basic and diluted computations for fiscal 2017, 2016 and 2015.

The EPS calculation for fiscal 2017, 2016, and 2015 excludes 0.05 million, 0.6 million, and 0.3 million options as their impact was anti-dilutive.