According to the S&P Dow Jones Indices, companies in the S&P 500-stock index increased repurchases of their own shares by more than 40 percent in the first quarter of 2018, compared with 2017. And judging by recent events, more repurchases are on the way for Q2. Yesterday, MetLife, Inc. (NYSE: MET) announced a new $1.5 billion authorization for the company’s common stock in addition to increasing its quarterly common stock dividend by five percent. Earlier this month, Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) announced it would buy back $100 billion in stock, as well as increase its dividend by a sizable 16 percent to 73 cents a share. These recent repurchase authorization announcements merely add to our faith in the long-term prospects of our broadly diversified portfolios of undervalued stocks.

Source: Forbes May 23, 2018 16:04 UTC