COMMON STOCK

Basic Earnings Per Share (EPS) is computed by dividing net income attributable to Duke Energy common stockholders, adjusted for distributed and undistributed earnings allocated to participating securities, by the weighted average number of common stock outstanding during the period. Diluted EPS is computed by dividing net income attributable to Duke Energy common stockholders, as adjusted for distributed and undistributed earnings allocated to participating securities, by the diluted weighted average number of common stock outstanding during the period. Diluted EPS reflects the potential dilution that could occur if securities or other agreements to issue common stock, such as stock options, were exercised or settled. Duke Energy’s participating securities are restricted stock units that are entitled to dividends declared on Duke Energy common shares during the restricted stock unit’s vesting periods.

The following table presents Duke Energy’s basic and diluted EPS calculations and reconciles the weighted average number of common stock outstanding to the diluted weighted average number of common stock outstanding.



	Years Ended December 31,
(in millions, except per share amounts)	2015		2014		2013
Income from continuing operations attributable to Duke Energy common stockholders excluding impact of participating securities	$	2,791	$	2,446	$	2,565
Weighted average shares outstanding – basic	694		707		706
Weighted average shares outstanding – diluted	694		707		706
Earnings per share from continuing operations attributable to Duke Energy common stockholders
Basic	$	4.02	3.46		3.64
Diluted	$	4.02	3.46		3.63
Potentially dilutive items excluded from the calculation^(a)	2		2		2
Dividends declared per common share	$	3.24	3.15		3.09


(a)	Performance stock awards and certain stock options were not included in the dilutive securities calculation because either the performance measures related to the awards had not been met or the option exercise prices were greater than the average market price of the common shares during the presented periods.

On April 6, 2015, Duke Energy entered into agreements with each of Goldman, Sachs & Co. and JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association (the Dealers) to repurchase a total of $1.5 billion of Duke Energy common stock under an accelerated stock repurchase program (the ASR). Duke Energy made payments of $750 million to each of the Dealers and was delivered 16.6 million shares, with a total fair value of $1.275 billion, which represented approximately 85 percent of the total number of shares of Duke Energy common stock expected to be repurchased under the ASR. The $225 million unsettled portion met the criteria to be accounted for as a forward contract indexed to Duke Energy's stock and qualified as an equity instrument. The company recorded the $1.5 billion payment as a reduction to common stock as of April 6, 2015. In June 2015, the Dealers delivered 3.2 million additional shares to Duke Energy to complete the ASR. Approximately 19.8 million shares, in total, were delivered to Duke Energy and retired under the ASR at an average price of $75.75 per share. The final number of shares repurchased was based upon the average of the daily volume weighted average stock prices of Duke Energy’s common stock during the term of the program, less a discount.