Earnings per Share

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2020

21. Earnings per Share

The following table sets forth a reconciliation of the information used in computing basic and diluted earnings per share:


	Years Ended December 31,
	2020		2019		2018
Earnings from continuing operations	$	683,451	$	677,918	$	591,145
Loss from discontinued operations, net	—		—		(20,878)
Net earnings	$	683,451	$	677,918	$	570,267
Basic earnings per common share:
Earnings from continuing operations	$	4.74	$	4.67	$	3.94
Loss from discontinued operations, net	$	—	$	—	$	(0.14)
Net earnings	$	4.74	$	4.67	$	3.80

Weighted average basic shares outstanding	144,050,000		145,198,000		149,874,000
Diluted earnings per common share:
Earnings from continuing operations	$	4.70	$	4.61	$	3.89
Loss from discontinued operations, net	$	—	$	—	$	(0.14)
Net earnings	$	4.70	$	4.61	$	3.75

Weighted average diluted shares outstanding	145,393,000		146,992,000		152,133,000

The following table is a reconciliation of the share amounts used in computing earnings per share:


	Years Ended December 31,
	2020	2019	2018
Weighted average shares outstanding - Basic	144,050,000	145,198,000	149,874,000
Dilutive effect of assumed exercise of SARs and vesting of performance shares and RSUs	1,343,000	1,794,000	2,259,000
Weighted average shares outstanding - Diluted	145,393,000	146,992,000	152,133,000

Diluted earnings per share amounts are computed using the weighted average number of common shares outstanding and, if dilutive, potential common shares outstanding during the period. Potential common shares consist of the incremental common shares issuable upon the exercise of SARs and vesting of performance shares and RSUs, as determined using the treasury stock method. For the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, the weighted average number of anti-dilutive potential common shares excluded from the calculation above totaled 30,378, 28,096 and 1,382, respectively.