COMPUTATION OF EARNINGS PER SHARE

Basic earnings per share (“EPS”) is computed by dividing net income by the weighted average number of shares of Common Stock outstanding for the period. Diluted EPS reflects the potential dilution of securities that could share in earnings. When the impact of common share equivalents is anti-dilutive, they are excluded from the calculation.

The following table sets forth the calculation of basic and diluted earnings per share for the three years ended December 31 (in thousands, except per share data):



	2018		2017		2016
Numerator:
Net income used for calculating basic and diluted earnings per common share	$	122,456	$	3,279	$	193,582
Denominator: (1)
Weighted average common shares used in the calculation of basic earnings per share	90,827		88,466		82,571
Common share equivalents associated with stock-based compensation plans	1,295		1,324		1,249
Shares used in the calculation of diluted earnings per share	92,122		89,790		83,820
Earnings per share: (2)
Basic	$	1.35	$	0.04	$	2.34
Diluted	$	1.33	$	0.04	$	2.31


(1)	The Company repurchased 2.1 million, 0.4 million and 0.6 million shares of its Common Stock in 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively.


(2)	Both basic and diluted earnings per share for 2017 include a tax benefit of approximately $0.66 per share related to the U.S. Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. Note 10 — Income Taxes provides information about the Company's income taxes.

The following table presents the number of common share equivalents that were not included in the computation of diluted earnings per share in the above table because the effect would have been anti-dilutive. During periods with net income, these common share equivalents were anti-dilutive because their exercise price was greater than the average market value of a share of Common Stock during the period.



	2018		2017		2016
Anti-dilutive common share equivalents as of December 31 (in millions): (a)	—		0.3		0.2
Average market price per share of Common Stock during the year	$	135.60	$	116.09	$	92.58

(a) Anti-dilutive common shares for 2018 were minimal.