"Alkermes (NASDAQ: ALKS) recently produced a two-pronged positive surprise; an increase in the size of their already existing stock buyback program and a boost in their financial guidance," says John McCamant.

In his Medical Technology Stock Letter, the biotech sector expert looks at this firm which focuses on treatments for central nervous system disorders, alcohol depenence, and schizophrenia. Here is his review.

"Both of these moves were made possible by the announcement that ALKS has received a $40 million payment from Eli Lilly, their former partner for the now defunct AIR Insulin program.

"ALKS now has the authorization to buy back up to $215 million in common stock. To date, the company has bought back roughly eight million shares of common stock for a cost of about $106 million.

"Additionally, as noted, ALKS has upped their financial guidance for fiscal 2009. Operating income for the year is now expected to end up on the positive side of the ledger, with ALKS anticipating $10-$15 million for the full year.

Continue reading Alkermes (ALKS): Buyback boosts biotech

Alkermes (ALKS): Buyback boosts biotech originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 25 Jul 2008 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

David Fried is a leading authority on corporate buybacks, focused exclusively on companies that are involved in repurchasing their own shares.

One of the latest 'buys' in his aptly-named The Buyback Letter, is consulting and outsourcing firm Accenture (NYSE: ACN). Here's the advisor's review.

"Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, collaborating with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments.

"They use industry knowledge, expertise and technological capabilities to help worldwide clients enter new markets, increase revenues in existing markets, improve operational performance and deliver their products and services more effectively and efficiently.

Continue reading Accenture (ACN): Buyback bet on consulting firm

Accenture (ACN): Buyback bet on consulting firm originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 08 May 2008 10:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

"Pepsi Bottling Group (NYSE: PBG), is the world's largest manufacturer, seller and distributor of Pepsi-Cola beverages, with annual sales of nearly $13 billion," says David Fried, a long-standing specialist in companies engaged in corporate repurchases.

The editor of The Buyback Letter, "Pepsi Bottling has gobbled up its own shares, reducing shares outstanding by 5.2% in the past 12 months." Here is his review.

"What is a Pepsi Bottling Group beverage, besides Pepsi? A better question might be what isn't, since Mountain Dew, Sierra Mist, Aquafina, Tropicana, Mug Root Beer, Lipton, SoBe, Starbucks Frappuccino, Dole, 7UP, KAS, Aqua Minerale, Mirinda, Manzanita Sol, Dr Pepper, Squirt, Electropura, e-pura, and Garci Crespo, among
others, are all part of the PBG drink portfolio.

Continue reading Buyback specialist bets on Pepsi Bottling

Buyback specialist bets on Pepsi Bottling originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 06 Feb 2008 15:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

David Fried specializes in finding fundamentally strong companies that are also buying back their shares. A recent buy in his The Buyback Letter is defense contractor, Alliant TechSystems (NYSE: ATK)

He explains, "Alliant is a $3.9 billion advanced weapon and space systems company employing some 16,500 people in 21 states. It supplies aerospace and defense products to the U.S. government, allied nations, and prime contractors in the U.S."

Alliant, he notes, recently received a $62.5 million contract from Orbital Sciences Corporation for the main abort motor of the NASA Orion crew exploration vehicle Launch Abort System (LAS).

In addition, he points out that NASA's Orion will succeed the Space Shuttle in transporting humans to and from the International Space Station, as well as carrying crews to the Moon and eventually Mars. In late June, Fried adds, ATK received a contract worth more than $5 million to make rocket motors for the Sidewinder air-to-air missile system.

Continue reading Buyback expert goes defensive with Alliant (ATK)

Buyback expert goes defensive with Alliant (ATK) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 14 Aug 2007 09:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

"Public companies share the wealth with investors mainly through dividends and stock buybacks, and both actions have historically benefited investor returns," explains Richard Moroney in Dow Theory Forecasts, a blue-chip-focused service that has been published for over 50 years.

To benefit from both types of yields, the advisor has combined both dividends and buybacks to create what he calls a "shareholder yield." He explains, "Since both types of yield signify added value to shareholders, investors should be able to improve their odds in the market by harnessing the power of both statistics."

Moroney suggests, "In this case, dividend yield equals cash dividends over the prior 12 months as a percentage of a company's current market value, while the buyback yield equals cash spent on buybacks as a percentage of market value." The shareholder's yield is then the dividend yield and the buyback yield added together.

Moroney then screened for blue chip stocks with high shareholder yields, highlighting four that stood out in his search: Citigroup (NYSE: C), Exxon-Mobil (NYSE: XOM), McDonald's (NYSE: MCD) and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT).

Continue reading Shareholder yields: Buybacks plus dividends

Shareholder yields: Buybacks plus dividends originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 23 Jul 2007 12:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.