# Deere to buy back $1,000,000,000 of shares



## bontai Joe (Sep 16, 2003)

Deere to buy back $1 billion of stock 
By Padraic Cassidy, CBS MarketWatch.com
Last Update: 4:06 PM ET Dec. 1, 2004 


NEW YORK (CBS.MW) - Deere & Co. said Wednesday it will buy back as much as $1 billion of stock, deploying cash generated from its highly profitable fourth quarter.

Deere said it would buy the shares periodically, on the open market and privately.

Analysts had expected Deere to announce the buyback this year, as the authorization for its previous plan was set to expire. The Moline, Ill.-based maker of combines and harvesters had earlier increased its dividend 27 percent.

The company had about 247 million shares outstanding at the end of October.

Deere (DE: news, chart, profile) shares closed 6 cents higher to $71.79.

On Nov. 23, Deere posted fourth-quarter earnings five times the year-ago level, crediting a strong increase in shipments of agricultural and construction equipment in the U.S. and Canada.

Deere's quarterly net income soared to $357 million, or $1.41 per share, from $71 million, or 27 cents, in the final three months of fiscal 2003.


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