NOTE 21 – Earnings Per Share (“EPS”)

Basic EPS is computed by dividing earnings available to common shareholders by the weighted-average number of common shares outstanding. Diluted EPS reflects the potential dilution that could occur if securities or other contracts to issue common stock were exercised or converted into common stock or resulted in the issuance of common stock that then shared in the earnings of the entity. Diluted earnings per share include dilutive stock options and stock units under the treasury stock method.

The following table sets forth the computation of basic and diluted earnings per share for the three and six months ended June 30, 2017 and 2016 (in thousands, except per share data):

	Three Months Ended June 30,				Six Months Ended June 30,
	2017		2016		2017		2016
Net income	$	52,811	$	9,771	$	118,323	$	36,826
Preferred dividends		2,344		—		4,688		—
Net income available to common shareholders	$	50,467	$	9,771	$	113,635	$	36,826
Shares for basic and diluted calculation:
Average shares used in basic computation		68,556		66,792		68,471		67,186
Dilutive effect of stock options and units ⁽¹⁾		11,465		9,190		11,920		8,898
Average shares used in diluted computation		80,021		75,982		80,391		76,084
Earnings per common share:
Basic	$	0.74	$	0.15	$	1.66	$	0.55
Diluted	$	0.63	$	0.13	$	1.41	$	0.48

⁽¹⁾	Diluted earnings per share is computed on the basis of the weighted-average number of shares of common stock plus the effect of dilutive potential common shares outstanding during the period using the treasury stock method.

For the three and six months ended June 30, 2017 and 2016, the anti-dilutive effect from restricted stock units was immaterial.