Bulldog, Inc. had net income of $8,500,000 in 2017. On January 1, 2017, the company had 6,000,000 common shares outstanding. The company issued 150,000 common shares on April 1, 2017, 150,000 common shares on June 1, 2017, and repurchased 500,000 common shares on October 1, 2017. The company paid $450,000 in preferred stock dividends and $175,000 in common stock dividends during the year. What was the company's basic earnings per share (EPS) in 2017?

	a.	$1.466
	b.	$1.417
	c.	$1.380
	d.	$1.325
	e.	$1.296