Stock Slump Sparks Buyback Moves by 3 More Companies
Prompted by the sharp decreases in the prices of their shares over the past two weeks, Foodmaker, Beeba’s Creations and Maxwell Laboratories have each initiated stock repurchase programs.
Beeba’s Creations’ board of directors, which did not specify the total shares the company would buy, made the decision after Beeba’s stock price fell below its per-share book value of $9.65, chief financial officer Thomas Baumann said. Beeba’s stock closed up $.50 at $9.75 per share in Tuesday trading.
“We bought a few thousand shares on Monday and few thousand shares (on Tuesday),” Baumann said.
Foodmaker, the San Diego-based parent of Jack in the Box restaurant chain, plans to repurchase up to $12 million worth of its common stock. A spokeswoman said the repurchasing has begun but would not specify how many shares have been bought. Foodmaker stock closed up $.375 at $8.125 in trading Tuesday.
Foodmaker also announced that earnings for its fiscal year ended Sept. 27 will be about $13.8 million, up 50% from the $9.2-million profit reported the previous year. The company will release audited financial results in about two weeks.
Maxwell Laboratories plans to buy 75,000 of its shares on the open market, or about 3% of the total outstanding. Maxwell officials were unavailable for comment on whether any shares have been bought yet. Maxwell stock closed up $1 at $7.25 per share in Tuesday trading.
