Deutsche Bank AG (DB Quick QuoteDB - Free Report) announced that the recently approved share buyback program, by the European Central Bank, will start on Mar 4, 2024. This program authorizes the company to repurchase shares up to €675 million.

The program is to be completed by Jul 23, 2024. The buyback authorization is 50% higher than the bank’s €450 million program completed in 2023. Under the said plan, DB repurchased 45.5 million shares at a weighted average price of €9.88 per share between Aug 2 and Dec 8 of 2023.

Apart from successful share repurchases, the company pays dividends to enhance shareholder value. Although the company did not pay any dividends in 2020 and 2019, it plans to return excess capital to shareholders through dividends and share buybacks in the near term. Management expects to pay a dividend of 45 cents per share for 2023. With this, capital distributions to shareholders will amount to €1.6 billion in 2024 and €3.3 billion in 2022. Combining the dividend payments and share repurchases undertaken in 2023, DB returned more than €1 billion to shareholders in capital distributions.

Per management, “substantial and growing capital distributions to our shareholders are a cornerstone of our Global Hausbank strategy and we are well positioned to exceed our distribution goal of € 8 billion paid in 2022-2026.”

Supported by its strong balance sheet position and favorable payout rate compared with the respective industry, Deutsche Bank is expected to continue with such efficient capital distribution activities. Such consistent distributions are likely to stoke investors’ confidence in the stock.

DB shares have gained 9.1% on the NYSE over the past three months compared with the industry’s 5.4% growth.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

 DB currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Banks With New Share Repurchase Plans

South Plains Financial, Inc. (SPFI Quick QuoteSPFI - Free Report) announced a new share repurchase program. The plan authorizes the company to buy back shares worth $10 million. This plan is set to expire on Feb 21, 2025.

Before this, SPFI had announced a share repurchase plan in 2023 worth $15 million. The plan was completely exhausted by the fourth-quarter 2023 end as it repurchased a total of 686,000 shares in the prior year.

Old National Bancorp. (ONB Quick QuoteONB - Free Report) announced a new share repurchase program. Per the plan, the company is authorized to buy back up to $200 million worth of shares. The program will be carried through Feb 28, 2025.

Previously, ONB announced share repurchase programs in 2023 and 2022, each worth $200 million. Old National Bancorp didn’t repurchase any shares in 2023 due to unfavorable market conditions.