Earnings Per Share

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2019

EARNINGS PER SHARE

Basic earnings per share is computed by dividing net income attributable to our stockholders by the weighted average number of shares of common stock and vested deferred stock units outstanding during the year. The computation of diluted earnings per share is similar to the computation of basic earnings per share, except that the denominator is increased for the assumed exercise of dilutive options and assumed issuance of unvested restricted stock units and unvested deferred stock units using the treasury stock method unless the effect is anti-dilutive. The treasury stock method assumes that proceeds, including cash received from the exercise of employee stock options and the total unrecognized compensation expense for unvested share-based compensation awards, would be used to purchase our common stock at the average market price during the period. Vested deferred stock units outstanding are included in shares outstanding for basic and diluted earnings per share because the associated shares of our common stock are issuable for no cash consideration, the number of shares of our common stock to be issued is fixed and issuance is not contingent. See Note 5 to the consolidated financial statements in our 2018 Annual Report for additional information regarding deferred stock units.

The following is a reconciliation of weighted average shares outstanding for basic and diluted earnings per share:



(in thousands)	For the Three Months Ended September 30,		For the Nine Months Ended September 30,
	2019	2018	2019	2018

Shares outstanding for basic earnings per share	86,198	86,756	86,206	87,029

Shares outstanding for diluted earnings per share:
Shares outstanding for basic earnings per share	86,198	86,756	86,206	87,029
Dilutive effect of share-based payment awards	1,469	1,697	1,427	1,658
	87,667	88,453	87,633	88,687

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Certain options to acquire shares have been excluded from the calculation of shares outstanding for diluted earnings per share because they were anti-dilutive. The following table presents information concerning those anti-dilutive options:



(in thousands)	For the Three Months Ended September 30,		For the Nine Months Ended September 30,
	2019	2018	2019	2018

Weighted average number of shares underlying anti-dilutive options	29	15	247	274