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Evercore (EVR) Announces $1.4B Share Repurchase Program

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Evercore (EVR - Free Report) announced that its board of directors approved share repurchases of up to the lesser of $1.4 billion or 10 million shares of Evercore’s Class A common stock and/or Evercore LP Units.

The authorization underlines Evercore’s ongoing commitment to rewarding shareholders and aligns with its capital return objectives. It aims to offset dilution related to annual bonus equity and new hire grants through share repurchases and return excess cash that is not reinvested in the business through share buybacks.

The buybacks will be made from time to time in open market transactions or privately negotiated transactions. The authorization has no expiration date. Notably, the company has been repurchasing shares for the past few years. In 2019, 2020 and 2021, EVR repurchased shares worth $283 million, $147 million and $721 million, respectively.

Share buybacks aside, the company has been regularly paying dividends and enhancing shareholder value.In April 2021, it hiked the dividend by 11.5%. Over the past four years (ended 2021), the annual dividend per share has increased, seeing a CAGR of 11.7%.

The company’s dividend yield currently stands at 2.28%. The yield is impressive compared with the industry average of 0.4%. This yield is attractive for income investors as it represents a steady income stream.

The company continues to maintain a strong balance sheet. As of Dec 31, 2021, its cash and cash equivalents were $575.3 million, and investment securities and certificates of deposit were $1.8 billion. Moreover, current assets exceeded current liabilities by $1.6 billion as of the same date. The firm’s times interest earned ratio of 64.5 has witnessed a rising trend over the past few quarters. Notably, with sound liquidity, Evercore is less likely to default interest and debt repayments, if the economic situation worsens.

Also, over the past 3-5 years, the company’s earnings have improved 25.2% compared with the industry’s average of 21.4%.

Supported by its earnings strength and solid balance sheet, EVR is expected to continue efficient capital deployment activities. Through this, it will keep enhancing shareholder value.

Over the past month, shares of EVR have rallied 3.7% against the 1.9% decline of the industry it belongs to.

 

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Currently, EVR carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Other Finance Companies That Took Similar Action

In early February, CVB Financial Corp. (CVBF - Free Report) announced a new share repurchase plan. The board of directors approved the repurchase of up to 10 million shares of CVBF’s outstanding stock. There is no expiration date for this program.

The new repurchase plan replaces the previous one, which authorized CVB Financial to buy back up to 10 million shares. The plan was announced in August 2016. As of Dec 31, 2021, the authorization to repurchase 4.1 million shares remained.

Recently, M&T Bank Corporation (MTB - Free Report) announced that its board of directors re-authorized its stock repurchase program, which was suspended in 2021 until the closing of the pending acquisition of People's United Financial . The buyback allows up to $800 million of shares of common stock repurchases.

The original program was announced in January 2021. However, M&T Bank did not make any share repurchase in 2021 due to its pending merger with People's United. The repurchases will take place in the open market or through privately negotiated transactions.


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