Jack Henry increases quarterly dividend

The new dividend of 7.5 cents per share is payable March 6 to shareholders of record as of Feb. 19. On Jan. 29, Jack Henry had 87.38 million shares of outstanding common stock.

The Monett-based company also said today that its board of directors has increased Jack Henry’s 10 million-share stock repurchase authorization to 15 million shares. The current buyback program was approved in October 2002 for 3 million shares, increased to 5 million shares in May 2005 and increased again to 10 million shares in August 2006.

“We sincerely believe that repurchasing shares of our stock at the current market price is a great use of capital that will drive up earnings per share and provide returns both in the current year and should also compound in the future as we continue to grow,” CFO Kevin D. Williams said in a news release.

Jack Henry will release its second-quarter fiscal 2008 results after market-close on Wednesday.

The financial systems provider’s shares (Nasdaq: JKHY) closed Friday at $24.86 and were trading up at $24.99 as of 10:30 this morning. The 52-week range is $21.31 to $29.24.[[In-content Ad]]