During 2022, Bell declared and paid dividends of $80,000 on its 8,000 shares of nonconvertible preferred stock. During 2022, Bell declared and paid dividends of $60,000 on its common stock. Net income for 2022 amounted to $420,000. On December 31, 2021, Bell reported 100,000 shares of common stock. On June 30, 2022, Bell issued another 50,000 shares of common stock to the public. The earnings per share (rounded to the nearest cent) for 2022 are

a. $2.72

b. $2.88

c. $2.24

d. $2.68

a.524