Paul,
I doubt that they bought any before the PR date. Judging from the buying after the date and the number of people I know of that bought, I'd say the company has bought no shares as yet.
The PR is a statement that gives them the right to buy up to 500K shares at some or any time in the future. It doesn't say they will or that they have to, but it does give them the ability to support the price at a level they determine to be right. If they put a price support level on, it will stop a lot of the volatility we've been seeing. Investors can have confidence that the price will not go below a certain level. A 500K Stop Order. I imagine they won't want to reduce the float if they don't have to. They'll probably wait a few days to see what the market will do. This would give those that still want to buy at these levels an opportunity before they step in with their support bid.
The biggest reason for this PR is psychological, to assure investors that the company has not forgotten about them and that management is confident in future earnings and growth. It was the right thing to do and, while we might think it was a little late, I really don't think they realized the price had gotten so low. IT obviously was a sell off by a fund, likely a hedge fund, followed by more selling due to margin calls, Stop Losses, and panic.
I get the same $8.37 BV. If I were the company, I would put the share support price around $10-13 as the actual value of assets is closer to $13-16. Those machines aren't depreciating near as fast as they've been writing them off and BV contains no allowance for 'goodwill'. I don't think they would have much trouble finding a buyer around $150M.
All JMHO,
Ron |
