The board of directors of XL Group plc (NYSE:XL) approved a new share buyback program to return more value to its shareholders. The new approval authorizes the company to repurchase shares up to $1 billion. The previous share buyback program, which had about $204.1 million remaining, was canceled.
XL Group engages in share buybacks regularly. Share repurchases benefit the company’s earnings per share, book value as well as shareholder equity, as shares outstanding reduce. Meanwhile in the first quarter of 2016, the company spent about $355.1 million to buyback 10 million shares. XL Group plans to repurchase shares worth about $950 million in 2016.
XL Group has sufficient liquidity owing to strong operational performance that should support more such buyback activities in the future.
Concurrently, the company declared a quarterly dividend of 20 cents per share. The dividend will be paid on Jun 30 to shareholders on record as of Jun 15, 2016. XL Group has been paying dividends uninterruptedly over the last several years besides increasing the same. Its current dividend yield stands at 2.37%.
The property and casualty (P&C) insurer continues to engage in shareholder-friendly moves through share repurchases and dividend payments. Thus, XL Group’s prudent capital deployment looks impressive and makes the stock an attractive pick for yield-seeking investors.
Stocks to Consider
Currently, XL Group carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked stocks are Cincinnati Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:CINF) , Markel Corp. (NYSE:MKL) and NMI Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:NMIH) . Each of these stocks sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
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XL GROUP PLC (XL): Free Stock Analysis Report
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