Note 3 - Earnings Per Share

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2011

3. Earnings Per Share

Earnings per share is computed in accordance with Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 260 “Earnings Per Share,” which provides that unvested share-based payment awards that contain non-forfeitable rights to dividends or dividend equivalents (whether paid or unpaid) are participating securities and as such should be included in the calculation of earnings per share. Basic earnings per common share is computed by dividing net income available to common shareholders by the total weighted average number of common shares outstanding, which includes unvested participating securities. The Company’s unvested restricted stock and restricted stock unit awards are considered participating securities. Therefore, weighted average common shares outstanding used for computing basic earnings per common share includes common shares outstanding plus unvested restricted stock and restricted stock unit awards. The computation of diluted earnings per share includes the additional dilutive effect of stock options outstanding during the period. Common stock equivalents that are anti-dilutive are not included in the computation of diluted earnings per common share. The numerator for calculating basic and diluted earnings per common share is net income available to common shareholders.

Earnings per common share has been computed based on the following:

	For the three months ended						For the nine months ended
	September 30,						September 30,
	2011			2010			2011			2010
	(In thousands, except per share data)
Net income, as reported	$	10,150		$	14,628		$	27,177		$	30,286
Divided by:
Weighted average common shares outstanding		30,679			30,359			30,707			30,323
Weighted average common stock equivalents		14			19			37			29
Total weighted average common shares outstanding and common stock equivalents		30,693			30,378			30,744			30,352

Basic earnings per common share	$	0.33		$	0.48		$	0.89		$	1.00
Diluted earnings per common share (1) (2)	$	0.33		$	0.48		$	0.88		$	1.00
Dividend payout ratio		39.4	%		27.1	%		43.8	%		39.0	%

(1)

For the three months ended September 30, 2011, options to purchase 869,200 shares at an average exercise price of $15.99 were not included in the computation of diluted earnings per common share since they were anti-dilutive. For the three months ended September 30, 2010, options to purchase 1,064,983 shares at an average exercise price of $15.42 were not included in the computation of diluted earnings per common share since they were anti-dilutive.

(2)

For the nine months ended September 30, 2011, options to purchase 721,240 shares at an average exercise price of $16.71 were not included in the computation of diluted earnings per common share since they were anti-dilutive. For the nine months ended September 30, 2010, options to purchase 955,723 shares at an average exercise price of $15.77 were not included in the computation of diluted earnings per common share since they were anti-dilutive.