Tyson to Buy Back 22.5M Shares in Accelerated Program

Tyson Foods (NYSE:TSN) said its board reactivated a program to immediately start repurchasing up to 22.5 million of its shares in an effort to return value to shareholders and boost its share price.

The company will began repurchasing shares in the current third-quarter, though Tyson only expects to buy less than 25% of the total authorization this period.

“We have confidence in our company's performance and are taking this opportunity to return capital to shareholders,” Tyson CEO Donnie Smith said in a statement.

The company has made significant progress using cash on hand over the last few years to pay down debt and reinvest its business. Though Smith said given the weakness of Tyson's share price, along with its strong liquidity, the company believes accelerating the buyback program is an appropriate use of cash at this time.

The Springdale, Ariz.-based maker of chicken, beef, pork and prepared foods said it had about 309.5 million shares outstanding as of May 10.