Earnings Per Share (“EPS”)

Basic EPS is calculated by dividing net income by the weighted average number of shares outstanding during the period. Unvested restricted shares, although legally issued and outstanding, are

not

considered outstanding for purposes of calculating basic earnings per share. Diluted EPS is calculated by dividing net income by the weighted average number of shares outstanding plus the dilutive effect, if any, of outstanding stock options, SARs, RSAs, and RSUs using the treasury stock method.

The following table provides share information used in the calculation of the Company's basic and diluted earnings per share (in thousands):

	Three Months Ended September 30,				Nine Months Ended September 30,
	2017		2016		2017		2016
Shares used in the calculation of basic earnings per share		14,579		14,625		14,572		14,726
Effect of dilutive securities:
Stock options, SARs, and RSAs		536		452		493		437
Diluted shares used in the calculation of earnings per share		15,115		15,077		15,065		15,163

Equity awards of

0.5

and

0.6

million shares were outstanding for the

three

- and

nine

-month periods ended

September 30, 2017,

respectively, and were

not

included in the computation of diluted EPS because the awards’ impact on EPS would have been anti-dilutive. Equity awards of

0.3

and

0.4

million shares were outstanding for the

three

- and

nine

-month periods ended

September 30, 2016,

respectively, and were

not

included in the computation of diluted EPS because the awards’ impact on EPS would have been anti-dilutive.

February 26, 2016,

the Company entered into an accelerated stock repurchase agreement with Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC (“Morgan Stanley”) pursuant to a Fixed Dollar Accelerated Share Repurchase Transaction (“ASR Agreement") to purchase

$25.0

million of shares of its common stock. Pursuant to the terms of the ASR Agreement, the Company paid Morgan Stanley

$25.0

million in cash and received delivery of

0.4

million shares of the Company’s common stock on

February

29,

2016

based on a closing market price of

$46.40

per share and the applicable contractual discount.

August 26, 2016,

the Company settled the approximately

$7.5

million remaining under the ASR Agreement, which was recorded as an equity forward sale contract and was included in additional paid-in capital in stockholders' equity in the condensed consolidated balance sheets as it met the criteria for equity accounting. Pursuant to the terms of the ASR Agreement, the final number of shares and the average purchase price was determined at the end of the applicable purchase period, which was

August 26, 2016.

Based on the volume-weighted average price since the effective date of the ASR Agreement less the applicable contractual discount, Morgan Stanley delivered

0.1

million additional shares to the Company on

August 31, 2016.

In total,

0.5

million shares were repurchased under the ASR Agreement at an average repurchase price of

$47.08

per share. These shares are held by the Company as authorized but unissued shares pursuant to Massachusetts law. The initial and final delivery of shares resulted in immediate reductions of the outstanding shares used to calculate the weighted-average common shares outstanding for basic and diluted net income per share.