Earnings Per Common Share

The following table shows the calculation of both basic and diluted earnings per common share for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2017 and 2016.



	Three Months Ended September 30,				Nine Months Ended September 30,
	2017		2016		2017		2016
	(in thousands, except for share data)
Net income available to common shareholders	$	36,966	$	41,045	$	129,532	$	112,665
Basic weighted average number of common shares outstanding	264,058,174		254,473,994		263,938,786		254,310,769
Plus: Common stock equivalents	878,046		466,313		816,059		387,824
Diluted weighted average number of common shares outstanding	264,936,220		254,940,307		264,754,845		254,698,593
Earnings per common share:
Basic	$	0.14	$	0.16	$	0.49	$	0.44
Diluted	0.14		0.16		0.49		0.44

Common stock equivalents represent the dilutive effect of additional common shares issuable upon the assumed vesting or exercise, if applicable, of performance-based restricted stock units, common stock options and warrants to purchase Valley’s common shares. Common stock options and warrants with exercise prices that exceed the average market price of Valley’s common stock during the periods presented have an anti-dilutive effect on the diluted earnings per common share calculation and therefore are excluded from the diluted earnings per share calculation. Anti-dilutive common stock options and warrants equaled approximately 3.3 million shares for both the three and nine months ended September 30, 2017 and 4.6 million shares for both the three and nine months ended September 30, 2016, respectively.