Jack Henry board expands stock repurchase plan

The Jack Henry & Associates Inc. Board of Directors voted to expand an existing stock repurchase program.

The governing board of the Monett-based banking software and technology firm (Nasdaq: JKHY) approved an additional repurchase of 5 million shares, bringing the total current authorization to 8.3 million shares, according to a news release.

The board also voted to increase its quarterly cash dividend by 14 percent to 25 cents per share, payable on March 18 to stockholders as of March 3, according to the release.

As of Feb. 12, there were 80.9 million common outstanding JKHY shares.

"Our company continues to have strong organic growth and cash flows, even with our continued investments in our company through capital expenditures and research and development initiatives,” Jack Henry Chief Financial Officer Kevin Williams said in the release. “This increase in our dividend and share repurchase authorization evidences our continued confidence that these trends will continue and our commitment to deploy our cash to the benefit of our shareholders."   

Jack Henry - which boosted fiscal 2015 second-quarter net income 7.5 percent to $59 million - again posted a new 52-week stock high this morning of $66.72. The company has posted new 52-week highs on multiple occasions since December, according to Springfield Business Journal archives.

As of 11:20 a.m., JKHY shares were trading at $66.25. Its 52-week low is $51.86.[[In-content Ad]]