By Tess Stynes
Union Pacific Corp.'s (UNP) board approved the repurchase of an
additional 60 million shares, or 13%, of the railroad operator's
outstanding shares.
The new four-year stock repurchase authorization, which takes
effect at the start of next year, replaces the current
authorization, which will expire three months earlier than
initially planned on Dec. 31.
Chief Financial Officer Rob Knight said Union Pacific has
"confidence in our continued ability to earn reinvestible returns
on our diverse franchise opportunities" and that it expects to
"generate strong cash from operations to support our strategic
growth capital investments, maintain a strong balancesheet, and
reward shareholders with increasing returns."
The company in a statement said that since unveiling its initial
stock buyback program in January 2007, that it has repurchased
roughly 19% percent of its outstanding shares at a total cost of
nearly $8.6 billion.
The board also declared a quarterly dividend of 79 cents a
share, unchanged from the previous quarter.
Union Pacific last month reported that pricing gains helped
offset flat volumes in the third quarter, driving a 10% increase in
quarterly profit.
Shares rose to $161.59 recently, up 1.9%. The stock is up 29%
this year.
Write to Tess Stynes at tess.stynes@wsj.com
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