Target Juices Stock Buybacks with Another $5 Billion (TGT)

Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) figures that its current $10 billion stock buyback program will end early this year, so the company has announced a new $5 billion share repurchase plan to take up  the slack when the old one expires. The company’s CFO noted in the announcement:

Our plans envision continued generation of much more cash than we believe is appropriate to invest in our core businesses. We’re committed to maintaining Target’s long history of returning cash to shareholders through both dividends and share repurchase, and this new authorization will allow for seamless execution of share repurchase beyond completion of the current program.

Too much cash? Not appropriate to invest in growing the business? Sounds like an executive managment team that is looking to keep the stock price high so the team’s stock options become more valuable.

Target also said it plans to raise the annual dividend from the current  $1.20/year to $3 or more a year by 2017.