TKO Group (NYSE:TKO) Board of Directors Initiates Stock Repurchase Plan

Key Points

• TKO Group's Board has authorized a share repurchase program, allowing for the buyback of up to $1 billion or 2.5% of outstanding shares, indicating confidence in the stock's undervaluation.
• The company recently declared a dividend increase to $0.76 per share, up from $0.38, which translates to an annual yield of 1.5%.
• Analysts have raised their price targets on TKO Group's stock, with several brokerages rating it as a "buy" or "outperform," reflecting positive sentiment about its growth prospects.

TKO Group (NYSE:TKO - Get Free Report) announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Monday, September 15th, RTT News reports. The company plans to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

TKO Group Trading Down 0.7%

NYSE:TKO traded down $1.52 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $201.28. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,052,671 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,006,501. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $181.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $166.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.30. TKO Group has a twelve month low of $114.01 and a twelve month high of $212.49. The stock has a market cap of $39.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 83.17 and a beta of 0.79.

TKO Group (NYSE:TKO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.23 by ($0.06). TKO Group had a return on equity of 2.82% and a net margin of 5.40%.The business had revenue of $1.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.72 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 53.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that TKO Group will post 3.88 EPS for the current year.

TKO Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. This is a positive change from TKO Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. TKO Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 125.62%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Seaport Res Ptn cut TKO Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Baird R W upgraded TKO Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. UBS Group increased their price objective on TKO Group from $200.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Zacks Research upgraded TKO Group from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Finally, Roth Capital increased their price objective on TKO Group from $208.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $196.50.

Insider Transactions at TKO Group

In other news, Director Peter C. B. Bynoe acquired 740 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 16th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $203.00 per share, for a total transaction of $150,220.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 5,187 shares in the company, valued at $1,052,961. This trade represents a 16.64% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Nick Khan sold 45,168 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.82, for a total value of $7,715,597.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 156,494 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,732,305.08. This trade represents a 22.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 73,725 shares of company stock worth $12,767,807. Company insiders own 61.30% of the company's stock.

About TKO Group

TKO Group Holdings, Inc operates as a sports and entertainment company. The company produces and licenses live events, television programs, and long-form and short-form content, reality series, and other filmed entertainment on digital and linear channels and via pay-per-view. It is involved in the merchandising of video games, apparel, equipment, trading cards, memorabilia, digital goods, and toys, as well as sale of travel packages and tickets.