Newspaper publisher GateHouse Media recently announced its board approved a stock repurchase program of up to $75 million. The company also posted a quarterly profit that beat Wall Street expectations, helped by a surge in revenue from acquisitions and online advertising growth. The stock trades for 12x cash flow.

Taiwan-based Silicon Motion Technology Corp., which makes microchips for consumer electronics, said recently it plans a $40 million repurchase of its American Depositary Shares. The buyback program begins Wednesday and may continue until March 11, 2009. Silicon Motion said the move will create shareholder value, and shows it remains confident in its long-term strategy. The stock trades for 7x cash flow.

DealerTrack Holdings Inc., a provider of software for auto retailers, said recently that its board has approved a repurchase plan for up to $75 million of the company's common stock. The stock trades for 9x cash flow.

Jewelry retailer Zale Corp. said recently its board authorized a $100 million increase to the company's stock buyback program, boosting its total repurchase plan to $300 million. Under the previous $200 million authorization, all but $60 million worth of stock has been repurchased. The stock trades for 7x cash flow.

Pepsi bottler The Pepsi Bottling Group Inc. on Thursday said it will buy back 25 million shares. The move brings the total number of shares authorized for repurchase to 175 million since the company began buying back shares in 1999. Since then, Pepsi Bottling has repurchased 137 million shares. The company had about 226 million shares outstanding as of Dec. 29, 2007, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Feb. 27. The stock trades for 6.5x cash flow.

Check Point Software Technologies Ltd., one of the world's largest Internet security companies, said its board approved the repurchase of up to an additional $400 million of its common stock. The share repurchase will be funded from available working capital, the company said in a statement. The stock trades for 12x cash flow.

Brookdale Senior Living Inc., an operator of assisted and independent living centers, said recently it plans to repurchase up to $150 million of its common stock. In order to help fund the buyback, the company has cut its quarterly dividend in half to 25 cents from 50 cents. Given the current share price, Brookdale said, the switch is consistent with its responsibility to create long-term shareholder value.

The maker of Jim Bean whiskey and Titleist golf products said it will buyback $15 million in common stock. The move came after Fortune Brands decided not to buy Vin & Spirit Group, the maker of Absolut vodka. Fortune Brands CEO Bruce Carbonari wanted to buy Absolut but felt that the offer price was too high. Carbonari added, "We didn't see the appropriate return for our shareholders at the announced price, so we preserved our financial flexibility to create significant value in other ways." This is characteristic of the company’s disciplined approach to mergers and acquisitions. The Deerfield, Illinois based company released fourth quarter and full-year 2007 earnings on January 25th with a few outstanding achievements. Double-digit sales increase in the company's distilled spirits and golf brands fueled Fortune Brands to set the industry revenue record for its golf brands while the spirits business reached record high revenue. Even amid a poor housing market, the company's home products brands outperformed competition and gained market share in key categories. It's also great to see that analysts at Robert W Baird reaffirm their outperform rating on the stock and raised their estimates and price target. The price target was lifted to $84 from $80 while 2008 EPS estimates were increased to $5.75 from $5.15. The analysts added that losing the bid for the Absolut vodka maker will be beneficial since the company can use the extra cash for share repurchases. So we have a buyback, an outperform rating with increased targets, and two top of the line investors. It may be time to take a closer look at Fortune Brands.