IBM, Dycom, Fleetcor Reach New Annual Stock Highs at S&P 1,400

IBM (NYSE:IBM): NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) passed the point of impatience with their main foundry, Taiwan Semiconductor (NYSE:TSM), and engaged Samsung for a trial run of its Tegra chips, according to Bright Side Of News, citing sources. If Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) moves its A5 and A5X production away from Samsung due to the continuing legal battles between the two, Samsung will “gladly” open its doors to NVIDIA, the report contends. The shares closed at $206.00, up $1.28 or 0.63% on the day. They have traded in a 52-week range of $152.70 to $205.15.

Banner Corp. (NASDAQ:BANR): The Treasury Department plans to sell its preferred stock position in six community banks as part of the Obama administration’s move to unwind bailout programs from the financial crisis, reports Reuters. The banks are: Banner Corp. (NASDAQ:BANR), First Financial Holdings (NASDAQ:FFCH), MainSource Financial Group (NASDAQ:MSFG), Seacoast Banking Corp. (NASDAQ:SBCF), Wilshire Bancorp (NASDAQ:WIBC) and WSFS Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:WSFS). The shares closed at $22.53, up $1.51 or 7.18% on the day. They have traded in a 52-week range of $11.67 to $21.20.

Blyth (NYSE:BTH): Blyth has declared a semi-annual cash dividend of 15c per share on the Company’s common stock for the six months ended December 31, 2011. This represents a 50% increase to the dividend paid in the comparable prior year period. The semi-annual dividend, authorized at the March 15 Board of Directors meeting, will be payable to shareholders of record as of April 2 and will be paid on April 16. The shares closed at $76.55, down $2.22 or 2.82% on the day. They have traded in a 52-week range of $30.28 to $79.22.

Dycom Industries (NYSE:DY): Dycom Industries announced today that its Board of Directors has authorized $40M to repurchase shares of Dycom’s outstanding common stock. The stock repurchases are authorized to be made over the next eighteen (18) months in open market or private transactions. The exact timing and amount of repurchases will depend on market conditions and other factors. The Company expects to fund repurchases using cash on hand. The Company used the remainder of its previous repurchase authorization, which was approximately $10.9 million as of January 28, 2012, during the third quarter of fiscal 2012. As of March 14, 2012, the Company had 33,528,477 shares of common stock outstanding. The shares closed at $23.67, up $0.71 or 3.09% on the day. They have traded in a 52-week range of $12.26 to $23.76.

Fleetcor Technologie (NYSE:FLT): FleetCor Technologies’ commercial fleet card contract with The Pantry (NASDAQ:PTRY) has been renewed. FleetCor has been managing The Pantry’s fleet card portfolio for over 10 years. The shares closed at $38.59, up $1.59 or 4.3% on the day. They have traded in a 52-week range of $24.28 to $38.00.

Want news like this in real-time so you can get an edge? Click here for Wall St. Cheat Sheet Pro.

To contact the reporter on this story: Derek Hoffman at staff.writers@wallstcheatsheet.com

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Damien Hoffman at editors@wallstcheatsheet.com