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Ocwen Financial has re-initiated its two-year-old stock repurchase program after a nine-month suspension, according to an 8-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The stock repurchase program was originally announced on October 31, 2013, by the Ocwen board of directors, for an aggregate of $500 million of the company’s issued and outstanding shares of common stock. The company announced that it was suspending the stock repurchase program on February 5, 2015.
“The company believes it is appropriate at this time to reinitiate our stock repurchase program effective November 19, 2015,” Ocwen said in the SEC filing. “As of November 19, 2015, the approximate remaining value of shares that may be repurchased under the program is $129.7 million.”
When contacted by DS News, Ocwen declined to comment on the re-initiation of the stock repurchase program. In the SEC filing, the company said there can be no assurance to how many shares it will purchase at any given period under the share repurchase program, if any at all are repurchased. Purchases under Ocwen’s program may be made on market or in privately negotiated transactions, according to the filing.
Ocwen announced earlier in November that it had closed an offering of fixed-rate asset-backed term notes issued by Ocwen Master Advance Receivables Trust (OMART) and totaling $600 million in aggregate principal. The sale of the notes marks a bright spot for the Atlanta-based servicer after a down third quarter. In late October, Ocwen announced a net loss of $66.8 million for the quarter. Also, toward the end of September, Ocwen laid off about 300 employees, or approximately 10 percent of its U.S. workforce. In mid-September, toward the end of Q3, Ocwen settled a class action suit for $140 million in a Miami court with homeowners who had sued over inflated “force placed insurance” premiums.
