(By Balaseshan) Marcus Corp. (NYSE: MCS), which owns and operates movie theatres, hotels and resorts, said its board of directors has authorized the repurchase of up to 3 million additional common shares.
The new authorization adds to the company's existing share repurchase program that had about 955,000 shares remaining under prior authorizations as of December 31, 2012.
The company has repurchased about 1.8 million shares in conjunction with the exercise of stock options and the purchase of shares in the open market since June 1, 2012, the beginning of its fiscal 2013.
As of December 31, 2012, the company had 18.48 million shares of common stock outstanding and 8.77 million shares of Class B common stock outstanding.
The repurchases would be executed in the open market, in privately negotiated transactions or pursuant to a Securities and Exchange Commission Rule 10b5-1 plan, depending upon a number of factors including prevailing market conditions.
"We continue to believe that repurchasing our shares is a good investment for the company. With our strong cash flow and balance sheet, we believe that when timing and market conditions are appropriate, we will be able to repurchase shares to enhance shareholder value while at the same time continuing to invest in our businesses to facilitate our long-term growth," said Gregory Marcus, chief executive of Marcus.
The company said the shares repurchased would be retained as treasury stock and used for employee benefit plans or other general corporate purposes. The new authorization does not obligate the company to buy any particular number of shares of common stock.
Marcus Theatres currently owns or manages 687 screens at 55 locations in Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota and Ohio. The company's lodging division, Marcus Hotels & Resorts, owns and/or manages 20 hotels, resorts and other properties in 11 states.
MCS is trading up 1.52% at $13.32 on Tuesday. The stock has been trading between $10.27 and $14.37 for the past 52 weeks.