Safeway Inc. (NYSE:SWY), a food and drug retailer, boosted its stock buyback plan by $1.0 billion to $8.0 billion, and its shares rose 4 percent in early trade on Wednesday.
The Pleasanton, California-based company had repurchased about $6.1 billion of its stock and had around $0.9 billion remaining under its buyback plan during the third quarter.
Safeway, with sales of $41.1 billion in 2010, operates 1,681 stores in the United States and western Canada. The company also holds a 49 percent interest in Casa Ley, S.A. de C.V., which operates 169 food and general merchandise stores in Western Mexico.
Shares of the company are trading 0.77 points higher at $19.86 at 10.32 am EST. The stock has been trading in the 52-week range between $15.93 and $25.43.