Generic drug and health care products maker Perrigo Co. said ts board authorized the repurchase of $150 million in common stock and declared a regular quarterly dividend of 5 cents per share. The company also announced that second-quarter earnings surged 63 percent on double-digit revenue growth, beating Wall Street estimates. The stock has a forward PE of 19.

Twin Disc Inc. recently said it will repurchase up to 500,000 shares, or roughly 4.5 percent of its common stock outstanding, as the maker of power transmission equipment for boats starts its third buyback program in the last 12 months. The stock trades for 4.5x cash flow.

The investment bank recently announced a $100 million dollar buyback. It also said fourth-quarter earnings rose 43 percent as advisory fees rose even as dealmaking slowed amid a credit crunch. Greenhill attributed the strong advisory business to its focus on major corporations, which tend to make strategic investments, rather than on private equity or hedge fund firms that have different approaches. The stock has a forward PE of 13.

Candy maker The William Wrigley Jr. Co. recently authorized an $800 million share buyback program. About $254 million remains under its current program. It also said last week that its fourth-quarter net income rose 20 percent, helped by the benefit of a weaker dollar and higher selling prices. It also boosted its quarterly dividend by about 4 cents to 33 cents and upped its share buyback program.

Seagate Technology said last week the company's board authorized Seagate to buy back $2.5 billion of its stock over the next two years. It also hiked its dividend 20 percent, and the disk-drive maker's board authorized the company to buy back $2.5 billion in stock. Seagate raised its quarterly dividend to 12 cents from 10 cents, which will be paid after the end of the company's fiscal third quarter. Seagate Technology expects to buy back stock using its own cash, cash generated from its business and "potential alternative sources of financing." The stock trades for 5x cash flow.

Disk-drive component maker Hutchinson Technology Inc. said Monday it is to buy back up to $130 million of its stock. The purchases will be funded from available cash. Chief Financial Officer John Ingleman said the company's improved cash generation made share repurchases possible. The stock trades for 4x cash flow.

The Fort Lauderdale-based solid waste collection, transfer and disposal services firm recently announced a $250 million dollar buyback. Republic Services said its fourth quarter earnings increased 23 percent, benefiting from the sale of its composting business in Texas. It said it earned $82.1 million, or 44 cents a share, on revenue of $796 million. For the prior-year quarter, it earned $66.9 million, or 34 cents a share, on revenue of $766.2 million. The stock trades for 8x cash flow.

The Seattle-based online retailer announced a plan to buy back $1 billion in common stock over the next 2 years. The buyback, which replaces an April 2007 authorization worth $500 million, sent Amazon shares up $2.59 or 3.7% to $73.50. Amazon also said its board authorized a debt repurchasing program. The company will buyback up to all of its outstanding 4.75% convertible subordinate notes due next year, worth about $899 million, and its 6.875% convertible subordinated notes due in 2010, worth roughly $350 million, totaling $1.25 billion. The company recently reported outstanding fourth quarter and full year earnings which were due mainly to strong international sales. In the fourth quarter net sales jumped 42% to $5.67 billion, up from $3.99 billion in the same period last year while net income rocketed 112% to $207 million, or 48 cents a share, versus net income of $98 million, or 23 cents a share. In 2007 free cash flow increased 143% to $1.18 billion, surpassing $1billion for the first time, compared with $0.49 billion in 2006. Sales for the full year jumped 39% to $14.84 billion while net income soared 150% to $476 million, or $1.12 a share, which was in line with Wall Street's expectations. Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com commented, “This quarter showed accelerated sales growth and record operating profits. In our view, these unusual financial results are driven by one thing: continuously improving the customer experience.” Analyst Mark S. Mahaney from Citi Investment Research likes Amazon and rates the stock a buy with a $97 price target. With AMZN trading at 5% free cash flow yield, he believes Amazon's healthy cash flow is one of the company's most attractive metrics and this new buyback adds to that case for Amazon.