Belden recently announced a $100 million dollar buyback. In late July, Electronic cable maker Belden Inc. raised its full-year earnings outlook above Wall Street estimates after posting strong second-quarter results. The stock trades for 11x cash flow.

Parker Hannifin recently announced a $500 million dollar buyback. Parker Hannifin Corp., which makes motion control systems for the industrial and aerospace markets, last Thursday raised its quarterly dividend more than 21 percent and authorized a 3-for-2 stock split. The stock trades for 8x cash flow.

The South Financial Group recently announced a $100 million dollar buyback. The South Financial Group, Inc. operates as the holding company for Carolina First Bank and Mercantile Bank that provide a range of financial products and services to small and middle market businesses, and consumers in South Carolina, Florida, and North Carolina. The stock has a PE of 16.

Network Appliance recently announced a $1 billion dollar buyback. The maker of data storage devices posted first-quarter results that topped Wall Street's forecast last week. The company posted adjusted earnings of $76 million, or 20 cents a share, on revenue of $689 million. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected earnings of 19 cents a share. The stock has a PE of 17.

PetSmart recently announced a $300 million dollar buyback. Pet supplies retailer PetSmart Inc. said last Wednesday its second-quarter earnings increased 36 percent, helped by an increase in sales and the renegotiation of a contract. The stock trades for 8.5x cash flow.

United Stationers recently announced a $200 million dollar buyback. United Stationers Inc., a distributor of office and other business products, said in early August its second-quarter earnings fell from a year ago, which included one-time gains, but sales rose slightly. The stock trades for 6x cash flow.

American Commercial Lines recently announced a $150 million dollar buyback. Marine transportation and services company American Commercial Lines Inc. announced in late July it expects 2007 earnings at or near the low end of its previous outlook, if the softness in the north-bound market persists. The stock trades for 8x cash flow.

The company, which controls the “.com” domain, announced a $1.1 billion buyback representing nearly 15% of the company’s total market cap. Most analysts expected the buyback and recognize it as a way for management to return value to shareholders. But W.R. Hambrecht analyst Robert Stimson sees it as a defensive play. He says VeriSign may be trying to inflate the stock price to prevent a takeover or at least force the bidder to offer a higher price. Stimson believes Symantec and Comcast could be possible buyers of the internet company. Last Tuesday, the Mountain View, Calif.-based company named founder Jim Bidzos as chairman for the second time. Bidzos founded the company back in 1995 to develop “a secure infrastructure for handling commerce over the internet using encryption technology.” He said in an interview, "We are going to enter businesses that leverage our wiring and plumbing capabilities that extend services to different customers and different markets as well as additional services to existing markets." CIBC World Markets view the election of Bidzos as a positive for VRSN, given his accomplishments in the internet and security industry. The reinstatement of Bidzos highlights the fact that VRSN is focusing on expanding its core businesses. The company will continue to restructure and possibly cut off its low margin communication businesses. CIBC maintains their sector outperform rating and $35 price target for VRSN given the CEO change, hefty $1.1 billion buyback, and full year 07 restructured cost savings worth $50 million.