SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY

Earnings per Share

There were no adjustments required to be made to weighted-average common shares outstanding for purposes of computing basic and diluted earnings per share and there were no securities outstanding in any year presented, which were excluded from the computation of earnings per share other than antidilutive stock options, restricted stock awards, restricted stock units, and PSUs. Stock options outstanding that were excluded from the diluted share calculation because their impact was antidilutive at the end of 2018, 2017, and 2016 were as follows:

Antidilutive options are excluded from the calculation because they decrease the number of diluted shares outstanding under the treasury stock method. Antidilutive stock options are generally outstanding options where the exercise price per share is greater than the weighted-average market price per share for our common shares for each period. The restricted stock awards, restricted stock units, and PSUs that were antidilutive, as determined under the treasury stock method, were immaterial for all years presented.

A reconciliation of the number of weighted-average common shares outstanding used in the basic and diluted earnings per share computations is as follows:



(In thousands)	2018	2017	2016
Weighted-average common shares outstanding:
Basic	40,809	42,818	45,316
Dilutive effect of share-based awards	153	482	658
Diluted	40,962	43,300	45,974

Share Repurchase Programs

On March 7, 2018, our Board of Directors authorized a share repurchase program providing for the repurchase of up to $100 million of our common shares (“2018 Repurchase Program”). The 2018 Repurchase Program was exhausted during the second quarter of 2018. On June 5, 2018, we utilized the entire authorization under our 2018 Repurchase Program to execute a $100 million accelerated share repurchase transaction (“ASR Transaction”), which reduced our common shares outstanding by 2.4 million during the second quarter of 2018.

Common shares acquired through repurchase programs are held in treasury at cost and are available to meet obligations under equity compensation plans and for general corporate purposes.

Dividends

The Company declared and paid cash dividends per common share during the periods presented as follows:



	Dividends Per Share		Amount Declared		Amount Paid
2017:			(In thousands)		(In thousands)
First quarter	$	0.25	$	11,547	$	12,683
Second quarter	0.25		11,289		10,872
Third quarter	0.25		11,007		10,638
Fourth quarter	0.25		10,903		10,478
Total	$	1.00	$	44,746	$	44,671
2018:			(In thousands)		(In thousands)
First quarter	$	0.30	$	12,744	$	14,386
Second quarter	0.30		12,474		12,141
Third quarter	0.30		12,321		12,065
Fourth quarter	0.30		12,346		12,016
Total	$	1.20	$	49,885	$	50,608

The amount of dividends declared may vary from the amount of dividends paid in a period based on certain instruments with restrictions on payment, including restricted stock awards, restricted stock units, and PSUs. The payment of future dividends will be at the discretion of our Board of Directors and will depend on our financial condition, results of operations, capital requirements, compliance with applicable laws and agreements and any other factors deemed relevant by our Board of Directors.

(In millions)

Antidilutive stock options excluded from dilutive share calculation