Share buybacks, dividend In the confrence call on Wednesday the CFO spoke about both a share buyback and the dividend:
- With respect to a share buyback, he said they have considered one in the last couple months, but decided to focus on strengthening the balance sheet at this time (ie. reducing debt by 1 billion). If the shares remain cheap after that is accomplished, they will reconsider a buyback. They hope, however, that strengthening the balance sheet will cause the share price to go in the right direction so that a buyback is not necessary
- With respect to the dividend, it should be safe. He said the $200 million they spend annually on the dividend is not material to their de-leveraging effort, and they are currently very comfortable paying it. That's not to say they don't review it regularily
0.4 book value and a 5.3% dividend currently, looks like a steal to me