Shareholders OK Journal Communications Buybacks

Shareholders at Journal Communications' annual meeting Thursday rejected a proposal to rein in the company's stock buybacks -- and within hours the board of directors authorized the repurchase of as many as 5 million shares over the next 18 months.

This latest buyback comes on top of repurchase authorizations made in February 2005, April 2006, May 2007, and October 2007.

Journal Communications, publisher of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, noted that as of March 30, it has bought back 20 million shares of common stock.

Retired Journal film critic Doug Armstrong and other former employees who received stock in the company made a proposal that Journal Communications to use its free cash flow to increase dividends instead of for stock buyback programs and media acquisitions.

At the meeting shareholders -- many of whom got their stock before the company went public in 1983 and dissolved its employee stock trust -- complained about the price of Journal Communications stock, which has slumped along with all other publicly traded newspaper companies.

Journal Communications shares (NYSE: JRN) has traded as high as $14 in the past 52 weeks. Thursday, it closed at $5.83 cents, up 7 cents, or 1.22% -- but closer to its 52-week low of $5.55.

Shareholders voting 62.6% of shares, however, rejected the proposal to stop buybacks, according to an account by Rich Kirchen on the Web site of The Business Journal of Milwaukee.

After the annual meeting, the board of directors also declared a quarterly dividend of 8 cents per share on Class A and Class B shares, payable on June 6 to shareholders of record as of May 27.