KBR Inc (KBR.N) said its board had authorized a repurchase of up to 10 million shares, allowing the engineering company to cut outstanding equity below its target, and its stock jumped more than 6 percent. KBR executives had indicated in the past few months that they were looking at buybacks as the share count crept above the company's target of 150 million. As of last month, there were 150.8 million shares outstanding. "The shares will be repurchased from time to time in the open market at the company's discretion," KBR said in a statement on the new buyback program. The Houston-based company had $712 million in cash and equivalents at the end of June, having spent $35 million on share repurchases last quarter, and just $92 million in long-term debt.
KBR, Inc. (KBR) is a global engineering, construction and services company supporting the energy, petrochemicals, government services, industrial and civil infrastructure sectors. Shares of KBR traded higher by 6.82% or $1.82/share to $28.49. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $22.61 and as high as $39.34. On average, 1458690 shares of KBR exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 1050154.
