ACE Ltd. (NYSE: ACE) Added to Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.

Apartment Investment & Management (NYSE: AIV) Raised to Outperform at RBC.

Booz Allen Hamilton (NYSE: BAH) Cut to Market Perform at Wells Fargo.

Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE: CVC) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.

Honeywell International Inc. (NYSE: HON) Reiterated Buy with $70 target at Argus.

IPC The Hospitalist Company, In (NASDAQ: IPCM) Started as Buy at Citigroup.

Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE: M) named Bull of the Day at Zacks.

Mylan Inc. (NASDAQ: MYL) maintained Buy and raised target to $27 at Argus.

Ultra Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: UPL) Cut to Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.

Urban Outfitters Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN) maintained Neutral but cut estimates at Credit Suisse.

Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NYSE: WPI) Reiterated Buy with $70 target at Argus.

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JON C. OGG

We would normally group these alphabetically, but not today.  We grouped these in order of size and then we used an alphabetic order when it came to the same size of a buyback announcement.  The first group is the billions of dollars.

We then grouped the stocks by size again from the under $1 billion down to $500 million, and then we grouped the buybacks of under $500 million down to $200 million.  Usually we would cut the list off at buybacks of the $100 million and higher but the list was already too big so we cut the Buyback Kings off at $200 million for August.  Lastly, we have a chart at the very end tallying it all up…. Some $28.7 billion for just the $200 million and higher in new or expanded buyback announcements.  There were literally dozens of other buybacks that were closer to the $100 million mark and many more that were less than that.

The $1 billion and higher alone which were announced in August were as follows: Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE: LOW); CVS Caremark Corporation (NYSE: CVS); Celgene Corporation (NASDAQ: CELG); Covidien plc (NYSE: COV); Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU); Discovery Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: DISCA); Harris Corporation (NYSE: HRS); and Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE: LMT).

The fresh buybacks we have featured are only the big buybacks which are large in size or large in percentages of the market capitalization of the underlying companies.  The best buyback announcements in August have come from the following: Ace Ltd. (NYSE: ACE); Akamai Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM); AmerisourceBergen Corporation (NYSE: ABC); AOL Inc. (NYSE: AOL); Avnet Inc. (NYSE: AVT); CBOE Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: CBOE); Charter Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: CHTR); Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO); Covidien plc (NYSE: COV); Discovery Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: DISCA); Dolby Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE: DLB); Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE: XOM); Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX); Harris Corporation (NYSE: HRS); Huntsman Corporation (NYSE: HUN); JA Solar Holdings Co., Ltd. (NASDAQ: JASO); Jarden Corporation (NYSE: JAH); News Corp. (NASDAQ: NWSA); Rowan Companies, Inc. (NYSE: RDC); Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV); and St. Jude Medical Inc. (NYSE: STJ).

We also saw some large and interesting buybacks in the last week of July from the likes of Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE: BSX); Motorola Solutions, Inc. (NYSE: MSI); Visa, Inc. (NYSE: V); and Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE: HPQ).

The companies are using their balance sheets to take advantage of distressed situations.  Ultimately, this could even signal M&A opportunities arising.  As a reminder, companies are not under any obligation to spend a single dollar to repurchase stocks.  These buybacks actually look real, and many have a solid history of buying back shares.  Who needs activist investors when you see these billions and billions being made available to purchase stock.

Here are the companies buying billions in their own stock.

Unitedhealth Group, Inc. (NYSE: UNH) raised its payout by a sharp 30% to $0.1625 per quarter from a prior payout of $0.125.  AT $47.96, this new $0.65 annualized payout generates a dividend yield of about 1.35%.  United also authorized the repurchase of 110 million shares over time. A 1.35% payout might not sound like much but this is after a year of having a real dividend and is a signal that more hikes are likely to continue.  Like it or not, Unitedhealth is one of the surviving insurance companies even if the healthcare sector is being turned into a utility.  Utilities have high payouts.

Unum Group (NYSE: UNM) raised its $0.925 payout to $0.105 per quarter.  The new yield of $0.42 per quarter comes to 1.62% based on a $25.80 share price.  The life and disability insurance sector has so far managed to evade ‘reform’ in the same manner of healthcare and the dividend is proof.

It was just back on April 26 that Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) announced a new dividend rate that will be $0.25 per quarter per share of common stock that came to about 1.30% in dividend yield at the time.  Humana competes directly against Unitedhealth.  ACE Limited (NYSE: ACE) is another insurer, although it is a reinsurance and insurance company, which just hiked its payout back on May 18 and that yield is roughly 2% now despite the woes of Japan.

Some shareholders like stock buybacks, but almost all investors love dividends.  When companies start raising dividends like this it seems that the intention is to keep raising dividends.

JON C. OGG

Ace now has a dividend yield based after this hike and with shares up around $69.00 of just over 2.00%.  We would consider this more in the middle of the pack of insurance and reinsurance.  Everest Re Group Ltd. (NYSE: RE) pays about a 2.1% yield today and PartnerRe Ltd. (NYSE: PRE) has a yield of just above 3.00%.  Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A) recently gave its earnings and showed much larger losses from Japan, as you would expect on its size, due to Japan; Berkshire offers no dividend.

When ACE reported earnings it said that net income for the first quarter was $0.76 per share, versus $2.22 per share for the 2010 first quarter. Net income excluding net realized gains and losses was $0.79 per share versus $1.70 a year earlier. 

Net after-tax catastrophe losses for the first quarter of 2011 were $443 million, including reinstatement premiums, or $1.30 per share, compared with $149 million, or $0.44 per share, for the first quarter of 2010.  The company further noted that total pre-tax catastrophe losses including reinstatement premiums were $489 million, and about $247 million was related to the Japan earthquake.

Book value does matter here because ACE makes money.  That stated book value rose by $402 million, or 2%, during the quarter and that book value per share came in at $69.33 with a tangible book value per share of $55.31.  Tangible book value is of course far more important to investors, but Ace just hit a new all-time high of $69.13 today.

All-time high?  Something is working out just fine… Maybe the financial risks in Japan are not as severe as we have all recently expected.

JON C. OGG

ACE Limited (NYSE: ACE) will replace Millipore in the S&P 500 Index.  With a $17.7 billion market cap, this one will be a decent ‘must buy’ stock for index funds that now have to buy the stock whether they wanted to or not.  Shares were up almost 5% last night and the move this morning is 5.3% at $54.99 on well over 100,000 shares.

Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) is getting shelled after Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) announced that China renewed its license despite the fights between the two. -5.2% at $68.61 on over 700,000 shares; Google shares are up 3.8% just under $474.00 on over 100,000 shares in the pre-market.

BP plc (NYSE: BP) is down 2.2% at $33.00 this morning on reports that Gulf of Mexico forecast conditions may hamper the cleanup efforts and on word that it has denied claims that it will be able to stop the leak faster than planned.

Conceptus, Inc. (NASDAQ: CPTS) was down as much as 30% last night on a bad earnings warning before getting down about 25% before the night hours went out.  This morning shares are down ‘only’ 22% now at $12.30 on about 400,000 shares.

Lawson Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: LWSN) was down about 3.5% last night after guidance was under expectations. Shares are down 6.4% at $7.13, but there has only been a small handful of trades.

Madison Square Garden, Inc. (NASDAQ: MSG) is down over 4% at $19.51 as LeBron James went to the Miami Heat.  The silly thing about this drop is that the stock is now lower than it was even before LeBron was rumored as considering the Knicks under MSG.  Almost a silly drop considering that shares were at $20.10 to $20.25 before the real hype or hope got started and considering the market has headed up 3 straight days.

Nanometrics Incorporated (NASDAQ: NANO) reaffirmed its 2010 and 2011 goals last night after the Oppenheimer downgrade took out 20% for a $8.69 close.  Shares are up 7% at $9.30 on almost 50,000 shares in the pre-market.

ScanSource, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCSC) raised sales guidance last night and shares were up over 6% last night. Shares are up over 6% at $26.61 on thin volume.

JON C. OGG

ACE Limited (NYSE: ACE) is up big after the reinsurer was announced as the replacement for Millipore in the S&P 500 Index.  Shares are up what appears to be almost 5% at $54.79.  With a $17.7 billion market cap, this one will be a decent ‘must buy’ stock for index funds that now have to buy the stock whether they wanted to or not.

Conceptus, Inc. (NASDAQ: CPTS) shares were down over 30% initially after the reproductive medical device company lowered guidance.  On last look shares have come off lows after the 4PM close, but the stock is still down right at 25% at $11.85 on post-4PM volume of 354,000 shares.

Coldwater Creek Inc. (NASDAQ: CWTR) is showing up as a hard one to call on the surface but it may have just been a pick-off trade in the after-hours.  The after-hours drop was down to $3.40 for a 5.5% drop from the $4.60 close.  The after-hours trading volume was enough on the surface at 21,000 shares, but the issue is that this was only 150 shares for the last print and the last bid-ask spread is wide in after-hours.

The Gap, Inc. (NYSE: GPS) looks like one of the best winners in after-hours after a bad day, but it is an off trade above market for 16,000 shares at $19.77 when the bid/ask is now back to $18.20/$18.34 after a $18.22 close.  Same store sales were flat and gave investors pause today, but this print is above the intra-day high of $19.26.  This is either an error trade or a delayed report trade not even from today.

Lawson Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: LWSN) looks and feels like a name change to “Lost One.”  It met earnings expectations, but guidance is soft.  Shares are down 3.5% at $7.35 on about 70,000 shares since the closing bell.

Nanometrics Incorporated (NASDAQ: NANO) did not at all like the price drop today after Oppenheimer cut the shares to Perform with a $10 price target.  Shares fell a sharp 20% to $8.69 today on the news.  After the close, the company issued a statement that it was reaffirming “its positive business outlook for 2010 and 2011″ and the shares have recovered some.  Shares are up over 4% but still only at $9.06 in the after-hours after closing at $10.86 on Wednesday.  There have been over 100,000 shares traded since after the close.

Nu Horizons Electronics Corp. (NASDAQ: NUHC) announced record first quarter net revenues after the close of $211 million, up 42.6% from a year ago and up 12.8% sequentially; excluding Xilinx products, quarterly revenues grew 52.7% from a year ago and 14.1% sequentially.  Shares have thin after-hours trading but the stock is up 9.6% at $3.65 and that is after a gain of 8.8% during normal hours today.

ScanSource, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCSC) guided sales in the range of $573 million to $583 million, compared to $441 million for the same period one year ago and compared to $540.34 million from Thomson Reuters estimates.  Shares closed at $25.10, and shares are up 6.2% at $26.66 on 31,472 shares since the 4 PM close.

JON C. OGG

Ace Ltd. (NYSE: ACE) Raised to Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.
The Blackstone Group L.P. (NYSE: BX) Removed from Conviction Buy List but maintained Buy at Goldman Sachs.
Canadian Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSIQ) Cut to Hold at Auriga.
Citigroup, Inc. (NYSE: C) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
CM Group Inc. (NYSE: CME) Raised to Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.
ExxonMobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) Raised to Outperform at RBC.
First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) Raised to Buy with $138 target at Auriga.
Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ: ISRG) Raised to Buy at Lazard.
New York Community Bancorp Inc. (NYSE: NYB) Raised to Outperform at BMO.
Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ: NTRS) Raised to Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.
Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
Tenet Healthcare Corp. (NYSE: THC) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
Transocean Ltd. (NYSE: RIG) Raised to Outperform at FBR.
Virgin Media, Inc. (NASDAQ: VMED) Started as Buy at Deutsche Bank.
Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

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JON C. OGG

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ACE Limited (NYSE: ACE) saits its approved shareholder matters included a 6.5% increase to its quarterly dividend to $1.32 annually ($0.33 per quarter) from $1.24.  This gave the insurer and reinsurer a yield of 2.5% at the time.

Bunge Limited (NYSE: BG) approved a 9.5% increase in the company’s regular quarterly cash dividend, from $0.21 to $0.23 per common share.  The current yield is 1.89% on the dividend.

The Clorox Company (NYSE: CLX) declared a quarterly dividend of $0.55 cents per share, which is up a nickel or by 10%.  The household and consumer products company now has an implied dividend yield of 3.4%.

Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Inc. (NYSE: DPS) is one we already predicted this year that would hike the payout.  It did, and handsomely.  The quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share is up 67% and “follows the company’s attainment of its target capital structure.”  The new implied dividend yield will be 2.6%.

Frontline Ltd. (NYSE: FRO) looks like a 200% boost to the payout as the new dividend is $0.75 versus $0.25 a quarter ago.  The problem is that the payouts here from the company are never set at a consistent rate and they have even been much higher in the past.  That being said, we are not using a dividend yield calculation here.  Still, this is the highest payout announced for at least six quarters.

General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) did not yet hike its dividend, although Immelt laid out an even more detailed time line and we gave our prediction for what that payout would be.

Knight Transportation, Inc. (NYSE: KNX) declared a 20% increase of the company’s quarterly cash dividend to $0.06 per share of common stock from $0.05 per share.  The new dividend yield is close to 1.2%.

Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) declared a quarterly dividend of $0.47 per common share, a 9.3% from the previous $0.43 per share payout and is the seventh consecutive annual increase.  The implied dividend yield is now over 3.0%.

Safeway Inc. (NYSE: SWY) announced that its board declared a regular quarterly cash dividend and approved a 20% increase from $0.10 per share to $0.12 each quarter per share.  The grocery chain now yields 2.0%.

Tiffany & Co. (NYSE: TIF) lifted it dividend after already having raised it before.  The high-end jewelry retailer boosted its quarterly dividend by 25% to $0.25 from $0.20 per quarter.  The $1.00 dividend comes to almost 2.4% for a yield, still far south of what Buffett gets on his preferred shares.

Transatlantic Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: TRH) raised its quarterly dividend by 5% to $0.21 per share, and that marks yet another consecutive year of dividend payout hikes by the reinsurer.  That left an implied dividend of 1.8%.

Unum Group (NYSE: UNM) announced this week an increase of 12.1% in dividend payouts to $0.0925 per common share, giving an implied dividend yield of 1.7%.  The company also announced a $500 million buyback plan.

Xcel Energy Inc. (NYSE: XEL) raised its quarterly dividend from $0.245 per share per quarter to a rate of $0.2525 per share per quarter.  The electric utility’s old annual payout of $0.98 will now be $1.01, and that in turn generates a dividend yield of about 4.75%.

The hikes keep coming, but this was a bad week for companies announcing good news.  Stay tuned for more dividend hike predictions… followed by more dividend hikes.

You can join our free daily email distribution list to hear more about dividend trends, analyst upgrades and downgrades, top day trader and active trader alerts, news on Buffett and other investment gurus, IPOs, secondary offerings, private equity, and more.

JON C. OGG

ACE Limited (NYSE: ACE) approved all matters submitted to the ACE Limited 2010 Annual General Meeting.  This included a 6.5% increase to its quarterly dividend to $1.32 annually ($0.33 per quarter) from $1.24.  This give the insurer and reinsurer a yield of 2.5%.

The Clorox Company (NYSE: CLX) declared a quarterly dividend of $0.55 cents per share, which is up a nickel or by 10%.  The household and consumer products company now has an implied dividend yield of 3.4%.

Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Inc. (NYSE: DPS) is one we already predicted this year that would hike the payout.  It did, and handsomely.  The quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share is up 67% and “follows the company’s attainment of its target capital structure.”  The new implied dividend yield will be 2.6%.

Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) declared a quarterly dividend of $0.47 per common share, a 9.3% from the previous $0.43 per share payout and is the seventh consecutive annual increase.  The implied dividend yield is now over 3.0%.

Safeway Inc. (NYSE: SWY) announced that its board declared a regular quarterly cash dividend and approved a 20% increase from $0.10 per share to $0.12 each quarter per share.  The grocery chain now yields 2.0%.

Xcel Energy Inc. (NYSE: XEL) raised its quarterly dividend from $0.245 per share per quarter to a rate of $0.2525 per share per quarter.  The electric utility’s old annual payout of $0.98 will now be $1.01, and that in turn generates a dividend yield of about 4.75%.

The hikes keep coming.  Stay tuned for more dividend hike predictions… followed by more dividend hikes.

JON C. OGG