northrop Grumman NOC,
It entered into a $1 billion accelerated stock repurchase agreement with Morgan Stanley & Co.
The Falls Church, Va.-based defense contractor said it expects to acquire about 1.8 million shares on Jan. 31, representing about 80% of repurchases under the buyback deal based on the Jan. 29 closing price.
The agreement will be completed under Northrop Grumman's existing stock repurchase authorization, which has approximately $3.6 billion remaining.
Northrop Grumman said it expects to complete the buybacks no later than the second quarter.
The company said it has set a goal of returning “more than 100%” of free cash flow to shareholders this year.
In early December, Northrop Grumman authorized an additional $2.5 billion to buy back inventory, bringing the total authorization at that time to $3.8 billion.
