Managed-care provider Cigna Corp. said recently its board of directors increased the company's stock repurchase authority by $500 million. Cigna also announced it had repurchased 5.5 million shares for $220 million during the second quarter. The insurer has repurchased 6.7 million shares for $265 million so far this year. The company has about 275 million shares outstanding and about $565 million of stock repurchase authority available. The company also reaffirmed its full-year earnings-per-share guidance but lowered its expectations for medical membership growth and adjusted health care operating income. The insurer said it still expects adjusted earnings of $4.05 to $4.25 per share, but it said medical membership will grow by 1 percent instead of the previous range of 2 percent to 2.5 percent. The stock trades for 7.5x cash flow.

Energy company Public Service Enterprise Group Inc. recently announced its board of directors has authorized the repurchase of up to $750 million of common stock during an 18 month period. "This authorization is recognition of the company's solid financials and strong liquidity position," Ralph Izzo, PSEG's chairman and chief executive, said in a statement. The company also reaffirmed its 2008 earnings guidance of $2.80 to $3.05 per share. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial, on average, expect a profit of $3 per share, with estimates ranging between $2.90 and $3.10 per share. "Strong operations and a largely contracted position continue to support our guidance -- all with a reduced risk profile," Ralph Izzo, PSEG's chairman and chief executive, said in a statement. The stock trades for 7.3x cash flow.

NewMarket Corporation recently announced that its Board of Directors approved a share repurchase program that authorizes management to repurchase up to $100 million of NewMarket’s outstanding common stock until December 31, 2010, as market conditions warrant and covenants under NewMarket’s existing bank and bond agreements permit. The stock trades for 7.5x cash flow.

Pharmacy-benefits manager Express Scripts Inc. recently announced its board authorized the repurchase of 15 million additional shares under its current buyback plan, boosting the total to 135 million. The company also raised its guidance for the full year after reporting a 25 percent jump in second-quarter profit last week. The stock trades for a 19x forward PE.

The European telecom giant said its board approved the repurchase of up too $2 billion in common stock. The move comes a day after the company's stock sunk 14% on lower expectations for full-year sales. Vodafone said this sharp decline was unwarranted and made VOD shares significantly undervalued. Vodafone added that the maximum share price it will repurchase the shares will be no more than 105% of the average closing price in the five business days before the buyback. On Tuesday, July 22nd, the world's largest mobile operator by sales, reported first-quarter earnings with sales increasing 19% to $19.6 billion. However, most of this growth came from favorable exchange rates and acquisitions. Organic revenue increased just 1.7%. In its strongest markets, revenue dripped 0.2%, mostly due to soft sales in Spain, which has experience a huge drop in consumer spending. Sales in the U.K. were also weak for Vodafone as competition remains tough. Arun Sarin, Vodafonoe’s CEO commented, “Whilst we expect revenue around the bottom of the outlook range, our continued focus on cost reduction enables us to reiterate our operating profit and cash flow guidance for the year.” Shares of Vodafone sunk 14% when the company warned about full year results, hinting at a slowdown in the telecom sector. They expect revenue to be at the bottom end of its range between $79.8 billion to $81.6 billion. Standard & Poor's analyst Cristina Perea said, “Vodafone's comments today highlight the fact that mobile and telecommunications services are not immune to the overall consumption patterns." Deutsche Bank has a buy rating on the stock and a $200 price target. They just issued a report saying that VOD's peers saw much lower gains in Spain. This is good news for VOD because that means the Spanish market isn't as weak as they previously thought.

The Danbury, Conn.-based industrial gas supplier announced a new $1 billion buyback program. This program is in additional to its previous $1 billion buyback program which was initiated in July 2007. Under the previous program, $931 million of stock repurchases have been completed. The buybacks are expected to be completed over the next two years and will be financed with free cash and some debt. “This new share repurchase program reflects the confidence we have in the long-term growth outlook for our business, and our commitment to increasing shareholder value," said Steve Angel, chairman and CEO. The largest industrial gas supplier in North and South America reported stellar second-quarter results. Net income came in at $349 million, or $1.08 a share, compared to $291 million, or 89 cents a share in the same period last year. This represents net income and EPS growth of, 20% and 21%, respectively. Total sales surged 23% to $2.87 billion from strong sales in every area, especially South America and Asia. Sales in South American experience growth of 31% while Asia sales jumped 30%. PX raised its full year EPS estimates by 3% in the range of $4.20 share and $4.30 a share. This represented sales growth in the range of 16% to 20%. Analysts at Oppenheimer research said Praxair is their top large-cap pick, "blending growth, defensiveness, and multi-year visibility due to take-or-pay contracts and a large backlog of global energy and infrastructure projects." They have an outperform rating on PX and 12-month price target of $105. In its 15 years as a public company, Praxair has never had down EPS, even in recession. The Oppenheimer analysts noted that PX has the No. 1 franchise in key BRIC (Brazil, Russian, India, and China) markets and that it would benefit from energy scarcity. Seeing as the average size of new PX's new projects has doubled in the past three years, increasing demand will continue to drive growth.

The company, based out of Houston, supplies a range a products to oil and natural gas companies. Baker recently announced that its board approved a plan to repurchase $1 billion in common stock. This new buyback comes on top of the companies previous repurchase plan. As of July 24, 2008 BHI had authorized remaining to repurchase about $1.246 billion. The company also announced that it increased its quarterly dividend by 15% to $0.15 cents a share from $0.13 cents a share. On Tuesday, July 22nd, the company reported second-quarter income that jumped 8.4% to $379.3 million, or $1.23 a share, from $349.6 million, or $1.09 a share in the same period last year. Revenue for the quarter was $3 billion, an increase of 18% from the previous period. After the stronger-then-expected second quarter results, Jefferies & Company lifted their price target on BHI from $105 to $112. Jefferies has a buy rating on Baker noting attractive valuation and visible growth in North America and internationally.

The largest producer of glass for LCD-TVs and computers announced a new $1 billion dollar buyback plan, representing about 3% of its outstanding stock. This plan comes on top of its previously authorized $500 million buyback plan, of which $125 million remain, bringing the total repurchase amount to $1.125 billion. The stocks will be repurchased from time to time depending on market conditions by the end of 2009. Wendell P. Weeks, chairman and CEO commented, "This decision is consistent with our strategy to use free cash flow first to protect our financial health and second to fund growth opportunities.” Last Wednesday, July 30th, the Corning, NY-based company reported impressive second-quarter earnings. Net income surged to $3.2 billion, or $2.01 a share, from $489 million, or 30 cents a share in the same period last year. Without the $2.43 billion tax related gain, profit came in at 49 cents a share, an increase of 63% and in line with expectations. Totals sales jumped 19% to 1.69 billion from $1.42 billion last year, coming up a little short of the $1.72 forecast. Despite economic pressures, U.S. sales of LCD-TVs were strong, up more than 30% this first half of the year and expected to grow in the range of 25%-30% in the remainder of the year. “We expect the total year to still come in where we thought it would," added Weeks. Corning estimates that 105 million LCD-TVs will be sold in 2008, forcing their glass business to grow at the upper end of their original guidance range. Corning expects third-quarter profit to be in the range of 48 to 51 cents a share, representing 26% to 34% growth year-over-year. Sales are expected to grow between 6% and 11% to $1.65 billion to $1.72 billion. However, Wall Street was looking for sales of $1.79 billion. After evaluating Corning’s second-quarter results, analysts at Deutsche Bank reiterated their optimistic outlook with a buy rating. They believe the downside risk in GLW is already priced into the stock. The analysts explained, “Trading at 11x our below consensus EPS estimate (which assumes 15% glass volume growth in 2009 vs GLW’s guidance of 20-25%), we believe shares are attractively valued for longer-term investors who can ride out another 5 months of cautious anecdotes about demand and downward earnings revisions.”