(The following article by Tom Shean was posted on the Virginian-Pilot website on March 28.)
NORFOLK, Va. — Norfolk Southern Corp. said Tuesday that its board increased the size of its share-repurchase program by 50 percent and shortened the term of the program by five years.
The Norfolk-based railroad said the number of common shares that can be bought back was boosted to 75 million from the current limit of 50 million. In addition, the term for the buyback program was shortened to year-end 2010 from year-end 2015.
Since the program’s beginning in November 2005, it has spent $1.2 billion buying back 27.2 million shares, Norfolk Southern said.
This included the repurchase of 5.4 million shares for $263.4 million during the current quarter. Norfolk Southern announced the changes after the stock market closed. The price of its shares fell 36 cents Tuesday to $50.39.