NEWPORT – Newport Bancorp Inc. (Nasdaq: NFSB), the holding company for Newport Federal Savings Bank, has announced that it will purchase more of its shares, just a few weeks after completing an earlier repurchase program.
Newport Bancorp said in July that it has acquired 231,721 shares, or 5 percent, of the company’s outstanding common stock at an average purchase price of approximately $12.45 per share.
Now the company has been authorized to purchase up to 440,270 shares, or 10 percent, of the common stock. The company said the repurchases, which will be conducted through open-market purchases or privately negotiated transactions, will be made from time to time depending on market conditions and other factors.
There is no guarantee as to the exact number of shares to be repurchased by the Company. Repurchased shares will be held in treasury.
Typically, public companies buy back their own shares as a way of returning wealth to shareholders. The move reduces the number of outstanding shares on the market, thereby increasing the ownership stake of each investor. Often, companies will start buying when they believe their shares are selling below their true value.
Newport Bancorp Inc. (Nasdaq: NFSB) is the holding company for Newport Federal Savings Bank. A $290 million institution created by the 2005 merger of NewportFed and Westerly Savings bank, it converted from a mutual bank to a shareholder institution in mid-2006. Additional information is available at www.newportfederal.com.
