Ikon Office Solutions, which sells and leases office equipment, last week said it will buy back $500 million of its common stock. Ikon intends to repurchase up to $295 million of its stock through a modified "Dutch Auction" at a price of not less than $13 per share or more than $15 per share. The stock trades for 7x cash flow.

The discount department store retailer recently announced it will buy back $200 million worth of stock and an Oppenheimer analyst removed his "Sell" rating on the shares as well. The stock trades for 5x cash flow.

Clothing retailer Stage Stores Inc. said last week its board approved $50 million to repurchase stock. The company also raised the lower end of its fourth-quarter profit and sales ranges. The stock trades for 5x cash flow.

Nordstrom Inc. said Monday that third-quarter earnings rose 22 percent, helped by a shift in the dates covered by the period. The Seattle-based retailer said it bought back $750 million in shares in the quarter and added $1 billion to its existing stock repurchase plan. The stock trades for 6.5x cash flow.

Scientific equipment maker Agilent Technologies Inc. announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share-repurchase program of up to $2 billion of its common stock over the next two years. The company also said its fiscal fourth-quarter profit rose, helped by strong sales of bio-analysis products. The stock has a forward PE of 15.

Arbitron Inc. said its board authorized the company to buy back up to $200 million of common shares. The radio rating company said as of Oct. 31, it has about 28.2 million shares outstanding. Shares of Arbitron Inc. tumbled on Tuesday after the radio ratings company said it would delay the rollout of a controversial new electronic audience measurement system in nine markets, giving in to pressure from broadcasters who said the data wasn't reliable. The stock has a forward PE of 23.

Tire manufacturer Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. said last week its board of directors authorized the repurchase of up to $100 million of the company's stock. Cooper Tire was also upgraded by KeyBanc Capital Mkts from Buy to Aggressive Buy. The stock trades for 4x cash flow.

The Minneapolis-based retailer said its board approved a $10 billion dollar buyback plan that replaces its previous program. The new repurchase plan, which represents more than 20% of total outstanding shares, is expected to be completed within the next three years, with half or more to be done by year end 2008. The #2 U.S. discount store also surprised investors by reporting a 4.4% drop in third quarter earnings. Company directors said the disappointing results were due to soft sales in their higher-margin products like home goods and clothing, which were effected by the weak housing market and unusually warm weather. On a positive note, revenue in the third quarter jumped 9.3% to $14.8 billion while same-store sales, one of the industries most powerful metrics, increased 3.7%. Target's Chairman and CEO, Bob Ulrich, said in a press release, "We believe this new program will maintain our strong investment-grade debt ratings within a prudent range while allowing for substantial value to be returned to our shareholders. Given our prospects for continued profitable market-share growth, we believe share repurchase is a particularly attractive use of our capital at this time." Deutsche Banks remains a believer in Target and maintains their buy rating and $79 price target. Currently trading at 13.1x next years earnings, TGT is undervalued compared to its historic full year average of 18.8x earnings. Deutsche Bank analyst, Shane Higgins, said, "Specific catalysts (share buyback program, direct sourcing and potential sale of its credit business) should allow the shares to appreciate to out $79 price target, which assumes a 20.1x multiple on our new FY08 estimate".