COMMON STOCK

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2015

Common Stock [Abstract]

COMMON STOCK

COMMON STOCK:

The following shares were issued and outstanding at December 31 (See Note 1):

	2015	2014	2013
Beginning of Year	68,334,860	65,430,084	63,306,524
New Issues During Year:
Dividend Reinvestment Plan	2,604,424	2,881,556	1,966,834
Stock-Based Compensation Plan	26,338	23,220	156,726
End of Year	70,965,622	68,334,860	65,430,084

The par value ($1.25 per share) of stock issued was recorded in Common Stock and the net excess over par value at December 31, 2015 of approximately $61.1 million was recorded in Premium on Common Stock.

EARNINGS PER COMMON SHARE (EPS) — Basic EPS is based on the weighted-average number of common shares outstanding.  The incremental shares required for inclusion in the denominator for the diluted EPS calculation were 195,139; 150,062, and 115,520 shares for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013, respectively. These shares relate to SJI’s restricted stock as discussed in Note 2.

DIVIDENDS PER SHARE - Dividends per share were $1.02, $0.96 and $0.90 for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013, respectively.

DIVIDEND REINVESTMENT PLAN (DRP) —The Company offers a DRP which allows participating shareholders to purchase shares of SJI common stock by automatic reinvestment of dividends or optional purchases. Shares of common stock offered by the DRP have been issued directly by SJI from its authorized but unissued shares of common stock. The Company raised $63.2 million and $80.7 million of equity capital through the DRP during the years ended December 31, 2015 and 2014, respectively.