International Game Jumps On Buyback (NCT, IGT, UTX, BCR, CDXS)
Newcastle Investment Corp.(NYSE:NCT) late Wednesday the company announced that its Board of Directors has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per common share for the second quarter of 2012. The dividend is payable on July 31, 2012 to shareholders of record on June 25, 2012.
International Game Technology(NYSE:IGT) soared over 6% in the pre-market session after the company announced a $1 billion stock buyback. Goldman Sachs was hired to snap up $400 million in the initial stages of the plan. Smithfield Foods reported fourth-quarter earnings of $0.43 on revenue of $3.21 billion. Analysts had expected $0.53 and $3.26 billion, respectively. SFD drops 5 percent in the premarket. Korn/Ferry International reported better-than-expected results, but guidance was light. For the current quarter, revenue is expected to be just $172 million to $188 million, below the $200 million consensus estimate. Earnings will be no more than $0.22, while analysts had expected $0.30. KFY drops 3 percent before the bell.
United Technologies Corporation(NYSE:UTX) lifted its quarterly dividend 11% as the industrial conglomerate looks to increase value for its shareholders.
C.R. Bard, Inc.(NYSE:BCR) lifted its quarterly dividend by 5.3% and also authorized an additional $500 million in share repurchases, as the medical-device maker looks to increase value for its shareholders. C. R. Bard, Inc. (Bard) is engaged in the design, manufacture, packaging, distribution and sale of medical, surgical, diagnostic and patient care devices. As of December 31, 2011, the Company sold a range of products to hospitals, individual healthcare professionals, extended care facilities and alternate site facilities on a global basis.
Codexis, Inc.(NASDAQ:CDXS) said its interim chief financial officer, Brian Dowd, will resign at the end of this month in order to accept a position at a private technology company. Codexis, Inc. is a developer of proprietary biocatalysts. The Company is selling its biocatalysts to customers in the pharmaceutical industry and is engaged in a research and development in collaboration with Equilon Enterprises LLC dba Shell Oil Products US (Shell) to develop biocatalysts for use in producing biofuels.