Covenant sells terminal, boosts stock repurchase
Covenant Logistics announced Thursday it expects to realize a $45 million pretax gain from the sale of a California terminal and the company will repurchase up to $75 million more of its common stock.
The Chattanooga-based trucking giant said it will relocate personnel and equipment to another location in Southern California and cut operating costs by $500,000 a year with no disruption in service. The stock repurchase announced Thursday follows the recent completion of the previously announced $30 million 10b5-1 repurchase plan.
“With our latest 12-month return on invested capital in the double digits, and a stock price representing a single-digit P/E multiple and less than 2x tangible book value, internal growth and investing in our own company currently offer the most attractive returns,” Covenant President Joey Hogan said. “Based on our expectations regarding net cash flows after fleet investments for the next several quarters and our low leverage level, our board has increased the size of our repurchase authorization.”
Separately, the company also announced that it has promoted James “Tripp” Grant to executive vice president and chief financial officer and named Joey Ballard to executive vice president of People and Safety.
Salem acquires Ace Food Market
The Chattanooga Beer & Wrecker Board approved on Thursday a change of ownership for Ace Food Market at 2100 E. Main St. and again delayed hearing a case involving The Signal on Chestnut Street because all parties involved could not be present at the meeting.
Rehan Salem is the new owner of the Ace store and the beer board authorized the change in the business’s alcohol permits.
But the beer board was unable to resolve a dispute regarding The Signal. At its May 5 meeting, the board had granted a two-week delay at the request of The Signal’s attorney in order to answer a possible beer permit violation related to allegations the business refused to allow access to law enforcement. Two Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office deputies working off duty as school resource officers at a high school prom were allegedly asked to leave the venue last month when they showed up because they had firearms, according to law enforcement.
The case was not on the agenda Thursday but board member Cynthia Coleman had questions about its omission from the meeting and whether all parties had been informed that the case would not be heard. City attorney Emily O’Donnell said the fact that the case was not on the agenda, which goes out a couple of days before the meeting, was notice enough. She said it was not on the agenda because the law enforcement officers involved, who were from city and the county, had other obligations. After some discussion, the board voted to delay the case until the June 2 meeting.
Twitter policy aims to limit misinformation
Twitter is stepping up its fight against misinformation with a new policy cracking down on posts that spread potentially dangerous false stories.
The change is part of a broader effort to promote accurate information during times of conflict or crisis. Under the new rules, which take effect Thursday, Twitter will no longer automatically recommend or amplify posts that mischaracterize conditions during a conflict or make misleading claims about war crimes or atrocities.
Posts that violate the rules could also have warning labels applied, as well as links to more trustworthy content. Twitter says it will apply the rules first to Ukraine and then to future humanitarian crises.
30-year mortgages drop to 5.25 percent
Average long-term U.S. mortgage rates retreated modestly this week, but interest on the key 30-year loan remains at decade-high levels.
Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the 30-year rate slipped to 5.25% from 5.3% last week. By contrast, the average rate stood at 3% a year ago.
Earlier this month, the Federal Reserve intensified its fight against the worst inflation in 40 years by raising its benchmark interest rate by a half-percentage point and signaling more big rate hikes to come. Combined with higher home prices and persistent inflation, securing a home has become fraught with obstacles, especially for first-time buyers.
Canada bans Huawei from 5G networks
Canada says wireless carriers in Canada won’t be allowed to install Huawei equipment in their high-speed 5G networks.
In announcing the decision Thursday joined the U.S. and other allies that previously banned the giant Chinese technology company. The U.S. government has been lobbying allies for years to exclude Huawei from new ultra-fast 5G mobile networks over worries that China’s Communist rulers could compel the company to help with cyberespionage.
The U.S. has warned that it will reconsider intelligence sharing with any countries that use Huawei gear. The company has repeatedly denied the allegations.
– Compiled by Dave Flessner