Yet investors are scratching their heads. These buybacks are often seen in tandem with share prices hitting fresh multi-year lows. Gone are the days when companies would resort to buybacks only when their stock was deeply out of favor, far from its 52-week high.
Why are these companies "buying at highs"? In almost every instance, they appear to have little other use for their cash. They could go out and complete acquisitions that boost the top and bottom lines. Or they could seek to offer up very high dividends. Instead, they simply are managing their business with an eye toward maximizing cash flow, and using buybacks as a primary way to reward investors.
Here's a look at companies that have recently initiated or extended share buyback programs that could shrink the numbers of shares outstanding by more than 10%.
Top Machinery Stocks To Buy For 2015: Cabot Microelectronics Corporation(CCMP)
Cabot Microelectronics Corporation engages in the development, manufacture, and sale of chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) consumables to the semiconductor industry primarily in the United States, Asia, and Europe. CMP is a polishing process used by integrated circuit (IC) device manufacturers to planarize or flatten the multiple layers of material that are deposited upon silicon wafers in the production of advanced ICs. The company offers CMP slurries, which are liquid solutions composed of high-purity deionized water, proprietary chemical additives, and engineered abrasives that chemically and mechanically interact with the surface material of the IC device at an atomic level; and CMP polishing pads that are engineered polymeric materials designed to distribute and transport the slurry to the surface of the wafer and distribute it evenly across the wafer. Its CMP slurries are used for various polishing applications, including materials that conduct electrical signal s, such as tungsten, copper, tantalum, and aluminum; the dielectric insulating materials that separate conductive layers within logic and memory IC devices; and the disk substrates and magnetic heads used in hard disk drives. The company also designs and produces precision polishing and metrology systems to attain shape and surface finish on various optical components, such as mirrors, lenses, and prisms. It serves producers of logic IC devices and memory IC devices, as well as IC foundries. The company was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Aurora, Illinois.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Nikolaj Gammeltoft]
Not all of Granville�� best calls were in the distant past. On March 11, 2000, the day after the Nasdaq Composite Index (CCMP) jumped to a record 5048.62, Granville wrote that investors in technology stocks ��ill soon be burned.��The index, heavy on computer-related companies, tumbled about 78 percent before bottoming on Oct. 9, 2002.
Top 5 High Dividend Stocks To Own Right Now: Revlon Inc.(REV)
Revlon, Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in manufacturing, marketing, and selling cosmetics, women?s hair color, beauty tools, anti-perspirant deodorants, fragrances, skincare, and other beauty care products worldwide. The company?s cosmetics include face makeup products, including foundation, powder, blush, concealers, bronzers, and finishers; lip makeup products comprising lipsticks, lip glosses, and lip liners; eye makeup products consisting of mascaras, eyeliners, eye shadows, and brow products; nail color and nail care products, such as enamels, treatments, and cuticle preparations; and face and eye makeup removers. Its beauty tools comprise nail, eye, and pedicure grooming tools, such as clippers, scissors, files, tweezers, eye lash curlers, and makeup brushes; and fragrances consist of perfumes, eau de toilettes, colognes, and body sprays. The company markets its products primarily under Revlon, Revlon ColorStay, Revlon Super Lustrous, Revlon Age Defying, A lmay Intense i-Color, Almay Smart Shade, Revlon ColorSilk, Mitchum, Charlie, Jean Nate, Ultima II, and Gatineau names. Revlon, Inc. sells its products through sales representatives and independent distributors to mass volume retailers, chain drug stores, chemist shops, hypermarkets, general merchandise stores, department stores; other specialty stores, such as perfumeries; and to the United States military exchanges and commissaries. It also licenses its brand names to third parties for the manufacture and sale of beauty-related products and accessories. The company was founded in 1932 and is based in New York, New York. Revlon, Inc. is a subsidiary of MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings Inc.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Eric Volkman]
Revlon (NYSE: REV ) will need to have a serious discussion with its headhunters. The company revealed in an SEC filing that Executive Vice President and CFO Steven Berns has tendered his resignation. He has done so in order to take up the same positions at privately held media conglomerate Tribune Company.�
- [By Vinay Singh]
Compared to other players like Estee Lauder (EL) and Revlon (REV), Elizabeth Arden definitely lags behind. Elizabeth Arden has been unable to outpace its peers as the chart below indicates:
Top 5 High Dividend Stocks To Own Right Now: Blackhawk Network Holdings Inc (HAWK)
Blackhawk Network Holdings, Inc., incorporated on January 27, 2006, is a prepaid payment network utilizing technology to offer a range of gift cards, other prepaid products and payment services in the United States and 18 other countries. The Company is a third-party distributor of gift. Its product offerings include gift cards, prepaid telecom products and prepaid financial services products (including general purpose reloadable (GPR), cards and its reload network). In addition, it sells physical and electronic gift cards to consumers through both online distributors and its Website, GiftCardMall.com. It offers gift cards from consumer brands, such as Amazon.com, Applebee��, iTunes, Lowe��, Macy�� and Starbucks and from payment networks, such as American Express, MasterCard and Visa. In addition, it distributes GPR, cards provided by Green Dot and NetSpend, as well as PayPower, its own GPR card. REloadit, its reload network, allows consumers to reload funds onto certain of their previously purchased GPR cards. In November 2013, Blackhawk Network Holdings Inc completed the acquisition of InteliSpend Prepaid Solutions. Effective December 2013, Blackhawk Network Holdings Inc, a unit of Safeway Inc, acquired Retailo AG.
The Company also offers prepaid solutions, including functionality and connectivity for digital wallet products within digital payments space, as well as an online gift card exchange called Cardpool. The Company�� extensive prepaid network provides benefits to its three primary constituents: consumers who purchase the products and services it offers, content providers who offer branded gift cards and other prepaid products that are redeemable for goods and services, and distribution partners who sell those products. Its extensive network connects to more than 500 content providers and over 100,000 active retail distribution locations, providing access to over 160 million consumer visits per week. For consumers, the Company provides a variety of brands and content at ! retail distribution locations and online. For its content providers, it provides access to millions of consumers and creates new customer relationships. For its distribution partners, it provides product category that drives incremental store traffic and customer loyalty. It also distributes prepaid telecom products offered by prepaid wireless telecom brands. The Company distributes its products across multiple traffic channels, such as grocery, convenience, specialty and online retailers.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Andrew Marder]
More recently, the company IPO'd its gift-card business last week as Blackhawk Network Holdings (NASDAQ: HAWK ) . Safeway sold off about 22% of its holding, generating $243 million in cash, which the company used to repay some of its debt. That will be reflected in the next earnings statement.
- [By Ploutos]
U.S. Stocks
The S&P 500 (SPY) makes a new all-time high, but closes beneath that plateau for the year. The S&P 500 eclipsed its former all-time high close of 1565 on March 28th, faster than I anticipated. With the index now ending the week above 1700 for the first time, closing below 1565 for the year seems a distant memory. Not everyone was calling for a new all-time high to be reached in 2013, and investment bank equity analysts were targeting on average high single digit annual gains at the beginning of the year. I did not expect a 19.9% return through the beginning of August, but I will take it. Grade: BThe equal-weighted S&P 500 (RSP) outperforms its capitalization-weighted alternative. The equal weighted index has produced a total return of 23.34%, besting the market capitalization-weighted S&P 500. Long-time readers know that I have long extolled the virtues of equal weighting. The lagging performance of former top holding Apple (AAPL), which has 1/14th of the weight in the equal weighted index has contributed to the outperformance of the equal weighted strategy. Grade: AThe Russell 2000 (IWM) outperforms the S&P 500 as small caps outpace large caps. The Russell 2000 has bested the S&P 500 by nearly five percent with the small cap index producing an impressive 24.8% return year-to-date. Grade: AThe shares of Bank of America (BAC) outperform J.P. Morgan (JPM) and Wells Fargo (WFC) on both an absolute and risk-adjusted basis. Bank of America has outperformed the broader market, producing a 28% total return year-to-date, but it has lagged Wells Fargo (32.1%) and J.P. Morgan (31.1%) while exhibiting higher volatility. Grade: C-The banking sector (XLF) outperforms the S&P 500. The Financial Selector Sector SPDR has produced a 27.9% year-to-date, besting the S&P 500 by roughly 8%. Grade: AHomebuilders (XHB) outperform the S&P 500, but not when adjusting for their variability of returns, which is over twice that of the broad - [By Bloomberg]
Matthew Staver/Bloomberg via Getty Images Cerberus Capital Management's $9 billion deal to merge Safeway (SWY) with Albertsons is a bet that a larger supermarket chain can better fend off an attack on the grocery business by big-box stores and online retailers. Safeway, the No. 2 grocery-store operator in the U.S., agreed Thursday to be acquired by Cerberus's Albertsons for about $40 a share. The deal will unite two chains with locations across the country -- especially in the West -- and narrow Kroger's (KR) lead as the nation's top supermarket company. Cerberus, a private-equity firm that has spent years investing in the supermarket industry, will use the new company's heft to combat a growing array of threats. Big-box retailers such as Walmart Stores (WMT) and warehouse clubs are increasingly targeting grocery customers, using their size and breadth of products to attract shoppers. Online food sellers and delivery services, including Amazon.com (AMZN), also have made neighborhood supermarkets less essential than before. "This merger will improve our competitive position," Safeway Chief Executive Officer Robert Edwards, who will be in charge of the combined company, said Thursday on a conference call. "Our customers will benefit from significant cost saving synergies and a stronger management team." Safeway shares fell as much as 6.3 percent to $37 in extended trading, reflecting concerns the deal may not close at the current price. The shares had increased 21 percent this year through the close of regular trading Thursday, outpacing the 1.6 percent gain of the Standard & Poor's 500 Index. Blackhawk Network As part of the agreement, investors will get $32.50 a share in cash, plus stock in Safeway's gift-card unit Blackhawk Network Holdings (HAWK), according to a statement Thursday. Safeway, based in Pleasanton, Calif., had said last month that it was in talks about a sale of the company. Assuming a diluted share count of about 235 million shares,
- [By James Fink]
Grocery store chain Safeway established Blackhawk back in 2001 and the business has grown in leaps and bounds in tandem with the gift card craze and they just spun off their Blackhawk Network holdings over the past few months to the NASDAQ stock, ticker symbol (HAWK).
Top 5 High Dividend Stocks To Own Right Now: Coty Inc (COTY)
Coty Inc., incorporated on January 20, 1995, is engaged in manufacturing, marketing and distribution of women�� and men�� fragrances, color cosmetics and skin and body care related products globally. The Company operates in three segments: Fragrances, Color Cosmetics and Skin & Body Care. The Company�� power brands consist of adidas, Calvin Klein, Chloe, Davidoff, Marc Jacobs, OPI, philosophy, Playboy, Rimmel and Sally Hansen. The Company sells products in each of its segments through retailers, including hypermarkets, supermarkets, independent and chain drug stores and pharmacies, upscale perfumeries, upscale and mid-tier department stores, nail salons, specialty retailers, duty-free shops and traditional food, drug and mass retailers.
The Company�� Fragrance products include a range of men�� and women�� products, with brands associated with fashion designers, celebrities and lifestyle brands. Color Cosmetics products include nail, lip, eye and other facial color products. Skin & Body Care products include shower gels, deodorants, skin care and sun treatment products.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Michael Lewis]
As happens all too often in the markets, an IPO has come out with lots of hype and, ultimately, little in the way of delivered expectations. Women's fragrance giant Coty (NYSE: COTY ) raised one of the largest IPOs in consumer product history last week, earning more than $1 billion. In the days prior, Wall Street played up the IPO in classic fashion -- citing large brand product awareness and celebrity endorsements as cause for investment. While Fools already know this is not a real reason to buy, apparently the market was either inundated with quick-flipping traders, or just unimpressed by the scent of Coty.
- [By Maria Armental var popups = dojo.query(".socialByline .popC"); popups.forEach]
Li & Fung(LFUGY) will distribute some of Coty Inc.'s(COTY) key brands in China, including Adidas, Rimmel and Playboy, as part of an agreement between the two companies. The move is part of Coty’s efforts to reorganize its business in China and focus on growing its business in the world’s second largest economy, the company said in a statement Tuesday.
- [By Jon C. Ogg]
Before you consider this just to be a bit of IPO pondering, take a step back and understand that some of this list membership already has�filed to come public or actually has�made it public recently. Boise Cascade Co. (NYSE: BCC), CDW Corp. (NASDAQ: CDW), Coty Inc. (NYSE: COTY), Global Brass and Copper Holdings Inc. (NYSE: BRSS), Noodles & Company (NASDAQ: NDLS), Restoration Hardware Holdings Inc. (NYSE: RH), Sprouts Farmers Market Inc. (NASDAQ: SFM) and many others are on the list and have made it to the post-IPO stage in the stock market.
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