Diversified downstream energy company Delek US Holdings (DK Quick QuoteDK - Free Report) recently announced a $400 million increase in its share buyback authorization that takes the company’s total available mandate to $562 million.   

A share buyback, also known as a stock repurchase, occurs when a company buys back its own shares from the marketplace. This practice reduces the number of outstanding shares, which can increase the value of remaining shares and boost earnings per share (EPS). Over recent decades, share buybacks have become a preferred method for returning cash to shareholders, often signaling that management believes the stock is undervalued.

Delek’s latest repurchase expansion is supported by cash reserves of more than $650 million. Apart from buybacks, DK also uses dividend as a tool to return cash to its shareholders, yielding an attractive 5%. 

Founded in 2001, Brentwood, TN-based Delek US Holdings, Inc. is an independent refiner, transporter and marketer of petroleum products.

Zacks Rank & Stock Picks

Delek carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) at present.          

Meanwhile, investors interested in the Oil/Energy space might look at operators like Core Laboratories (CLB Quick QuoteCLB - Free Report) and Nine Energy Service (NINE Quick QuoteNINE - Free Report) , each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 currently.

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Core Laboratories: The company’s expected EPS growth rate for three to five years is currently 22.2%, which compares favorably with the industry's growth rate of 14.5%. CLB has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 3.5%, on average.

Core Laboratories is valued at around $889.9 million. CLB has seen its shares decrease 18.3% in a year.

Nine Energy Service: Over the past 60 days, NINE saw the Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2024 move up 10.3%. The oilfield service provider has a Value Score of A.

Nine Energy Services’ current market cap is roughly $50.2 million. NINE has seen its shares fall 73% in a year.