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Stocks to watch Wednesday: Guess, AeroVironment

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Among the stocks that could see active trade in Wednesday's session are Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., GUESS? Inc. and Aerovironment Inc.

Investors will have quarterly financial results to sort through from a host of companies. Monsanto Co. (MON) , Lennar Corp. (LEN.B) (LEN) , Paychex Inc. (PAYX) , General Mills Inc. (GIS) , McCormick & Co. (MKC) , Progress Software Corp. (PRGS) , Herman Miller Inc. (MLHR) , Lindsay Corp. (LNN) , Flow International Corp. (FLOW) , OMNOVA Solutions Inc. (OMN) , Commercial Metals Co. (CMC) , UniFirst Corp. (UNF) and Casella Waste Systems Inc. (CWST) are on Wednesday's calendar.

Bristol-Myers Squibb's board approved a $3 billion increase in authorization for the company to buy back its own common stock. This comes on top of about $340 million in remaining authorization under a stock-repurchase plan adopted more than two years ago, according to the New York-based pharmaceutical company (BMY) . It's expected that the buyback program will take a couple years to play out, Bristol-Myers Squibb said, adding that the board's decision reflected the "strong financial position" of the company as well as its "balanced approach to capital allocation, including a commitment to its dividend and a disciplined approach to business development." The company had nearly 1.71 billion average common shares outstanding on a fully diluted basis in the first quarter.

The board of Guess (GES) authorized the repurchase of up to $500 million in common stock, augmenting about $19 million that remains under a prior $250 million authorization dating from March 2011. Buybacks may be made from time to time on the open market or via privately negotiated transactions, the Los Angeles-based company said. Guess had 89.5 million weighted average common shares outstanding in the three months ended April 28, quarterly financial results showed. The company also said it's repurchased 5 million shares during the current fiscal quarter.

Digital Realty Trust Inc. (DLR) priced 10 million common shares at $72.25 each to be sold in a secondary offering, with underwriters having the option to sell another 1.5 million shares if investor demand warrants. Net proceeds would be nearly $693 million based on the sale of the 10 million shares, rising to nearly $797 million if underwriters fully exercise their option. Earlier this week, the San Francisco-based real estate investment trust announced a deal to acquire a three-property data center in greater London for about $1.1 billion. The public offering, which was increased in size from 8.25 million shares, is expected to close on or about July 2, Digital Realty Trust said.

Also late Tuesday, Atlantic Power Corp. (AT) (ATP) said it commenced an underwritten public offering of 5.5 million common shares, designating the net proceeds for funding the company's equity commitment in a wind-energy project under construction in Oklahoma. The Boston-based company also priced a Canadian offering of 5.75% convertible subordinated debentures. Net proceeds from the sale of the 7-year debt, expected to close July 5, are projected at about US$124 million, Atlantic Power said.

Underwriters exercised in full their option to buy additional shares of Main Street Capital Corp. (MAIN) , the Houston-based company said. As a result, more than 4.3 million common shares were sold in Main Street Capital's secondary public offering, yielding net proceeds of about $93 million. The proceeds will be earmarked for, among other things, paying down outstanding borrowings under the company's credit facility and making portfolio investments, Main Street Capital said.

The board of Delek US Holdings Inc. (DK) approved a special cash dividend of 10 cents a share, payable July 31 to stockholders of record as of July 17. It marks the third time that directors have declared a special dividend in the last 14 months, the Brentwood, Tenn.-based energy company said. "The strategic location of our refineries and our focused initiatives continue to position Delek US for success and drive strong free cash flow," sdaid Uzi Yemin, president and chief executive, in a statement.

Heritage Financial Corp. (HFWA) said its board declared a special dividend of 20 cents a share, payable July 24 to holders of record as of July 10. It's the second special cash dividend to be paid by the Olympia, Wash.-based bank holding company since December.

Tuesday earnings recap

AeroVironment (AVAV) forecast higher earnings and revenue for fiscal 2013 as the Monrovia, Calif.-based reported financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended April 30. Specifically, the provider of unmanned aircraft and electric transportation systems pegged its profit in a range of $1.41 to $1.51 a share, on projected revenue of $348 million to $370 million. These compare to the $1.36 a share earned by AeroVironment on revenue of $325 million for fiscal 2012. "Record fourth- quarter revenue of $111 million and earnings per share of 80 cents produced another year of profitable growth," said Tim Conver, the company's chairman and CEO, in the earnings release.

H&R Block Inc. (HRB) posted net income of $586 million, or $1.99 a share, for the fourth quarter ended April 30, down from $658.2 million, or $2.14 a share, earned in the final three months of fiscal 2011. The company generated quarterly revenue of $2 billion, down from the prior year's nearly $2.04 billion, as revenue from tax services fell about 2%. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters had forecast that Kansas City-based H&R Block would earn $2.05 a share on $2.01 billion in revenue for the April quarter. The company also issued an update on its stock repurchases, saying it's bought back and retired 22.8 million shares, representing 8% of outstanding stock, since the end of January.