McGraw-Hill wants some of its stock back

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The board of directors at The McGraw-Hill Companies has authorized a stock buyback plan which could amount to about 17% of the company’s shares. CEO Terry McGraw notes that the company has a history of returning capital to shareholders through both dividends and share repurchases.


The new stock repurchase plan would allow for the buyback of up to 50 million shares, which would cost around $2 billion at current trading prices. The company has about 700,000 shares remaining under the previous buyback authorization of 45 million shares, which dates back to January 2007. Just a few days ago it bought back a block of stock from the founding family.

“Our Board is sharply focused on appropriately allocating capital to increase shareholder value. The Company’s strong cash flow positions us to return substantial capital to shareholders while continuing to invest in our high-growth global brands and businesses.  We have returned over $10 billion to shareholders since 1996 through a combination of increased dividend payments and share repurchases,” said the CEO.

The newly authorized share repurchases will be made from time to time in the open market subject to market conditions or through privately negotiated transactions as permitted by securities laws and other legal considerations, the company said.

McGraw-Hill recently put its TV group up for sale, so it is likely that RBR-TVBR will still be covering the company by the time it exhausts the new buyback authorization.