Aetna Inc. said recently its board has approved the repurchase of up to $750 million of the health insurer's common stock. As of March 31, the company had about 485 million shares outstanding. Aetna said it will continue buying shares from time to time in the open market. The company previously authorized the repurchase of up to $750 million of common stock in February. The stock trades for 6x cash flow.

AutoZone Inc. said recently its board has approved the repurchase of an additional $500 million in stock, bringing its current unused share repurchase authorization to $608 million. The auto parts retailer also said it will increase its debt leverage to "better optimize its current capital structure." AutoZone said it signed an agreement with shareholder ESL Investments Inc., a hedge fund owned by billionaire investor and Sears Holdings Corp. Chairman Edward Lampert. The fund currently owns about 36.2 percent of AutoZone's outstanding common stock. Under the deal's terms, if ESL's stake reaches 40 percent of shares outstanding, the firm will vote its shares above that mark in a similar proportion to other shareholders. That threshold will be lowered to 37.5 percent after the 2009 annual meeting, AutoZone said. AutoZone said the deal also states that out of three directors it plans to add to its board in the near future, two will be nominated by ESL. The move will increase the board to 12 directors. After that, the company said it will cut its board back to 10 members ahead of the 2008 annual meeting in December. Lampert stepped down from fellow auto retailer AutoNation's board last year to devote more time to ESL Investments and Sears. He is currently AutoNation's largest shareholder.

Financial Institutions, Inc. announced that the Company's Board of Directors approved on June 25, 2008 a $5,000,000 stock repurchase program that will expire on June 25, 2009. Under the program the Company may repurchase shares in open market purchases or through privately negotiated transactions as permitted under Securities Exchange Act of 1934 Rule 10b-18. The extent to which the Company repurchases its shares and the timing of such repurchases will depend upon market conditions and other corporate considerations. Erland E. ``Erkie'' Kailbourne, Chairman of the Board, commented, ``The Company recently completed a $5,000,000 repurchase program that was approved in July 2007. The success of that program together with the Company's continued solid financial performance and available capital has given us the opportunity to initiate an additional repurchase program. Our ongoing commitment to our business plan and disciplined risk management processes, coupled with our stock repurchase programs should continue to enhance shareholder value."

Alkermes reversed its position from last month and said it will see a profit in fiscal 2009 after receiving a payment from Eli Lilly & Co. Eli Lilly will pay the company $25.5 million, the remainder from its development partnership on AIR inhaled insulin. An additional $15.5 million had been paid during the fiscal 2008 fourth quarter. Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly ended that program in February, citing expectations for a tough regulatory process and a weak market if approved. Pfizer Inc. made the only inhaled insulin to reach the market, but discontinued the product last year because of lagging sales. Cambridge, Mass.-based Alkermes now expects profit between 11 cents and 16 cents per share on revenue between $200 million and $225 million, up from prior guidance for a loss of 11 cents to 16 cents per share on revenue between $175 million and $200 million. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expect, on average, a loss of 10 cents per share on revenue of $194.9 million. In May, Alkermes had forecast a fiscal 2009 loss, as it cut 150 jobs and closed a manufacturing plant in Chelsea, Mass. in the wake of the AIR inhaled insulin decision. But, the company remains partners with Eli Lilly and Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc. on Exenatide LAR, a longer-lasting version of the diabetes drug Byetta. Neponse Equity Research analyst Noelle Tune, for Soleil Securities Group Inc., reaffirmed a "Buy" rating with a $17 price target on the stock, and said the company is likely to dodge full-year losses going forward. "Of note, while additional minor payments from Eli Lilly may trickle in over the coming months, we expect this $25.5 million payment, along with ALKS receiving (patent) rights to the Chelsea facility, to close the chapter on AIR Insulin," Tune said, in a note to investors. Alkermes has also expanded its stock buyback program by $40 million to $215 million. Meanwhile, Cowen and Co. analyst Ian Sanderson reaffirmed a "Neutral" rating on the stock, citing the competitive risks for the company's two most anticipated programs; Exenatide LAR and Risperdal Consta, a long-acting form of the schizophrenia drug made by Johnson & Johnson. That partnership is Alkermes' most lucrative. "Longer-term, Alkermes shares do have attractive upside potential, but appreciation will require that Byetta (Exenatide) LAR royalties more than compensate for the expected erosion of the Risperdal Consta royalty stream," he said in a note to investors. Alkermes is also developing Vivitrol as an alcohol dependence treatment.

Kaiser Aluminum Corp. said recently its board authorized a share repurchase of as much as $75 million. Repurchases, which may be made in the open market or handled privately, will not begin until after July 6 and will continue for an estimated 18 months, subject to market conditions. "Our $244 million organic growth program provides additional capacity to address growing demand for aerospace and high strength plate products and will leverage new efficiencies in several of our value streams," Chief Executive Jack A. Hockema. The stock trades for 6x cash flow.

The Hartford, Conn.-based insurance and investment company entered into an accelerated stock repurchase program with Credit Suisse to repurchase $500 million in common stock. On top of that, the company authorized a new $1 billion buyback plan. The new buyback will add on to the company’s existing $2 billion buyback plan, which has $121 million remaining available for repurchase. "The stock repurchase and hybrid offering further enhance the company's capital structure," said Liz Zlatkus, The Hartford's CFO. "The timing was right for these actions. Replacing a portion of our equity capital with hybrid securities presented a compelling opportunity at this juncture." On April 28th, the seventh-largest insurer posted dismal first quarter earnings with profit dropping 83%. Net income in the first quarter was $145 million, or 46 cents a share, compared to $876 million, or $2.71 a share in the same period last year. The company now expects to earn $9.20 to $9.50 a share this year, down from the forecast of $9.80 to $10.20 in January. "The Hartford performed well in what proved to be a volatile economic climate this quarter," said Ramani Ayer, Hartford's Chairman and CEO. "Our capital strength gives us the ability to invest in operations and navigate the market cycles. The Hartford is focused on positioning the company for long-term growth," added Ayer. Hartford stock has sunk 17% year to date, and since the 52-week high of $102.87 in June 2007, share s have fallen 30%. Analyst John Hall from Wachovia commented, “In our opinion, Hartford's current valuation appropriately reflects the company's strong balance sheet and long-term growth opportunities. We rate the company's shares Market Perform.”

The Englewood, Colorado-based company announced a new $1 billion dollar buyback plan. The money transfer company also raised its long-term EPS growth objective to 15% to 18%, up from 12% to 14%, and maintained its long-term revenue growth target in the range of 10% to 12%. In addition, Western Union said 2008 profit will be at the high end of its forecasted range of $1.25 a share to $1.29 a share and revenue growth will be at the upper end of its 9% to 11% projection. Shares surged 10.1% on the news, reaching an all time high. "Our decision to raise the long-term EPS objective comes from our confidence that we are successfully executing on Western Union's strategy that positions us extremely well in the huge and growing global money transfer marketplace," said CEO Christina Gold. On April 22nd the company posted solid first quarter results with net income jumping 7% to $207 million, or 27 cents a share from $193.2 million, or 25 cents a share in the same period last year. They credited the results to their strong international consumer-to-consumer business. Revenue increased 12% to $1.3 billion, which included $33 million from currency translation of the euro. We like to see that analyst Wayne Johnson from Raymond James upgraded the stock to outperform from market perform, noting the company’s long-term business prospects in the U.S. and internationally. Johnson commented, "We are convinced Western Union is focused on improving operational efficiency and has stabilized unfavorable U.S.-to-Mexico transaction volume trends.” He believes the company will make a minimum of $1 billion in free cash flow this year and has a $28.50 price target on the stock.

The maker of Budweiser said it will increase its buyback plan to $7 billion, up from an earlier target of $3.8 billion. The shares will be repurchased throughout the remainder of this year and next year. InBev, the world’s largest brewer with global sales of $22.7 billion in 2007, has recently been trying to buyout Anheuser-Busch. In their latest bid, InBev offered $46.3 billion for Anheuser-Busch but they rejected the $65-a-share offer. After evaluating the proposal for two weeks, Patrick Stokes, chairman of the board said “InBev’s proposal significantly undervalues the unique assets and prospects of Anheuser Busch. The proposed price does not reflect the strength of Anheuser-Busch’s global, iconic brands Bud Light and Budweiser, the top two selling beer brands in the world, with Budweiser selling in more than 80 countries today.” However, the king of beers did not reject the possibility of accepting a higher bid by InBev at a later time. Meanwhile, InBev filed a lawsuit trying to convince BUD shareholders that they have the power to remove Anheuser’s board of directors, and ultimately accept the takeover bid. The inflated repurchase plan and Anheuser’s new commitment to cut $1 billion in costs are an effort to increase earnings and prove to shareholders that InBev’s original offer was too low. In the first quarter, Anheuser produced sales of $4.01 billion, a 6.2% jump from $3.86 billion in the same period last year. A 20% surge in international beer sales helped boost total revenue. However profit slipped 1.3% to $511 million or 71 cents a share from $518 million or 67 cents a share. Earnings per share increased because of a smaller amount of outstanding shares due to ongoing stock repurchases.