Central Sprinkler Corporation manufactures and sells automatic fire sprinkler heads and valves, and it distributes components for automatic sprinkler systems. Selected information from the companys 2017 financial statements show:

($ in thousands except per share amounts)	2014	2015	2016	2017
Earnings available to common	$2,376	$4,018	$8,458	$3,763
Average common shares outstanding	4,752	5,023	3,383	3,330
EPS	$ 0.50	$ 0.80	$ 2.50	$ 1.13

In late December 2015, Central Sprinkler bought back 1,237,000 shares of common stock for $11,750,000.

What to Do

1. What would EPS have been in 2016 and 2017 had the company not repurchased its common shares? Assume the stock buyback occurred on December 31, 2015, and notice that the company has an October 31 fiscal year-end.

2. Compare the companys profit performance in 2017 to earlier years, and comment on this comparison.

3. The stock buyback isnt the only reason that average common shares declined from 2015 to 2016. What else do you think could have contributed to this decline in average common shares?