Assume the company reported income from operations of $3,780,960 in 2017. It did not declare any common dividends during the year. However it did declare preferred dividends of $1,080,000 on December 20 but did not pay these till January 12, 2018. It began the year with 132,000 common shares outstanding and issued 720,000 common shares on April 1. On June 15 a 20% stock dividend was declared. On November 1, it repurchased 72,000 shares and cancelled them. Determine the companys basic EPS for the year.

a.

$4.76.

b.

$3.74.

c.

$4.48.

d.

$2.84

e.

$3.40.