Earnings Per Common Share

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2017

EARNINGS PER COMMON SHARE

Reconciliations of the numerators and denominators used in the computations of basic and diluted earnings per common share were as follows, in millions:



	Three Months Ended September 30,				Nine Months Ended September 30,
	2017		2016		2017		2016
Numerator (basic and diluted):
Net income	$	148	$	134	$	446	$	393
Less: Allocation to unvested restricted stock awards	1		2		4		5
Net income available to common shareholders	$	147	$	132	$	442	$	388

Denominator:
Basic common shares (based upon weighted average)	313		326		315		328
Add: Stock option dilution	3		3		4		4
Diluted common shares	316		329		319		332

For the three-month and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2017 and 2016, we allocated dividends and undistributed earnings to the unvested restricted stock awards.

Additionally, 397,000 and 339,000 common shares for the three-month and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2017, respectively, and 609,000 common shares for the nine-month period ended September 30, 2016, related to stock options were excluded from the computation of diluted earnings per common share due to their antidilutive effect.

In May 2017, our Board of Directors authorized the repurchase, for retirement, of up to $1.5 billion of shares of our common stock in open-market transactions or otherwise, replacing the previous Board of Directors authorization established in 2014. In the first nine months of 2017, we repurchased and retired 8.0 million shares of our common stock (including 0.8 million shares to offset the dilutive impact of long-term stock awards granted in the first nine months of the year), for approximately $312 million. As part of the repurchases, in August 2017, we agreed to purchase a total of $150 million of common stock with an immediate delivery of 3.3 million shares under an accelerated stock repurchase transaction. This transaction will be completed in October 2017, at which time we anticipate we will receive, at no cost to us, an additional 0.7 million shares of our common stock resulting from expected changes in the volume weighted average stock price of our common stock over the term of the transaction. At September 30, 2017, we had $1.3 billion remaining under the 2017 authorization.

On the basis of amounts paid (declared), cash dividends per common share were $0.100 ($0.105) and $0.300 ($0.305) for the three-month and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2017, respectively, and $0.095 ($0.100) and $0.285 ($0.290) for the three-month and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2016, respectively.