Novellus Systems Inc. said last week its board approved an additional $1 billion in stock repurchases. San Jose-based Novellus said that adds to the about $300 million remaining under the previously authorized program. "We remain confident in our technology and productivity-leading position today and its competitiveness into the future," said Richard S. Hill, chairman and chief executive. "We believe that our common stock repurchase program is an excellent use of excess cash from operations to increase shareholder value." The stock trades for 6x cash flow.

Oil field services provider, Key Energy Services Inc., said last week its board of directors approved the repurchase of up to $300 million shares of outstanding stock. Based on a price of $14, Key Energy Services could buy back about 20.5 million, or 15 percent, of outstanding shares. The stock has a forward PE of 8x.

Customer and information management services company Acxiom Corp. said last week that its board authorized a buyback of up to $75 million of its common stock over the next year. The stock trades for 5x cash flow.

Truck builder Paccar Inc., of Bellevue, said last week its board of directors authorized a $300 million stock repurchase plan. The company also recently reported third-quarter net income of $302.3 million, or 81 cents per diluted share, which is down from net income of $403.6 million, or $1.07 per share a year earlier but above analysts' estimates. The stock trades for 7.5x cash flow.

Electric and natural gas company Constellation Energy Group Inc. said last week that its board approved a $1 billion repurchase program, with $250 million of the repurchases being made through an accelerated buyback agreement. The company also recently lifted the low end of its full-year earnings guidance to a level in range of Wall Street expectations. It also reiterated its 2008 profit outlook for $5.25 to $5.75 per share. The company expects net income in the middle to upper half of the range. It also anticipates 2009 earnings growth of more than 10 percent over 2008.

Liberty Media Corporation announced last week that its board of directors has authorized the repurchase of up to an additional $1 billion of Liberty Interactive common stock. This authorization increases to $3 billion the total amount authorized to be repurchased since the Liberty Interactive shares began trading in May 2006 The stock has a PE ratio of 15.

Intersil Corp., which designs and makes analog semiconductors, said last week that its board authorized the repurchase of up to $400 million of its commom shares over the next 12 months. In late October, the semiconductor maker predicted its earnings will increase during the seasonally strong fourth quarter. Intersil expects quarterly earnings of between 31 cents and 32 cents per share, compared with 28 cents per share in the fourth quarter of 2006. This was below analyst expectations. The stock has a forward PE of 18.

The aerospace giant recently announced it will repurchase up to $7 billion in common stock. The Chicago based company has repurchased about $8 billion of its shares since resuming repurchases in 2004. "Our strong financial performance allows us to return value to our shareholders while continuing to invest in our growth and becoming more productive," said Chairman and Chief Executive Jim McNerney. "We are executing a balanced cash deployment strategy that's serving Boeing and its shareholders well." The company also posted solid Q3 earnings at the end of October. Analysts were looking for net income of $1.24 a share, but the jetmaker delivered $1.44. The stock has a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 18, a P/E-to-growth (PEG) ratio of 1.2 and a yield of 1.5%, and that alone makes it very attractive. The outlook wasn’t stellar but with $295 billion in backorders, earnings per share is locked in for some time. Right now there is a lot of debate as to whether Boeing can deliver the 787 on time and that has kept pressure on the shares as of late. I do not believe it matters if Boeing can deliver the 787 by December or April. The fact of the matter is that Airbus, its main competitor, is so far behind that Boeing has some wiggle room. Also, Morningstar analyst Brian Nelson pointed out that "their existing portfolio of aircraft continues to sell very well...the results came in better than expected and I think this is going to continue into their fourth quarter and through the first half of '08."