Investors support deals spree, happy to see U.S. companies buy growth

[riky]

Investors support deals spree, happy to see U.S. companies buy growth

<p><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/investors-support-deals-spree-happy-see-u-companies-100552034--sector.html"><img src="http://l1.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/H9b9Y1uoHpnFzSZgT8ArvQ--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTg2O3E9NzU7dz0xMzA-/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/Reuters/2014-04-14T100552Z_1_CBREA3D0S1Y00_RTROPTP_2_MARKETS-STOCKS.JPG" width="130" height="86" alt="A screen displays stock charts while a trader works at his post on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange" align="left" title="A screen displays stock charts while a trader works at his post on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange" border="0" /></a>By Soyoung Kim and Olivia Oran NEW YORK (Reuters) - After years of responding to shareholder calls for stock buybacks and dividends, major American companies are hearing a different demand from investors: buy growth. In a low-growth economy in which earnings gains have trailed a run-up in share prices, investors are ready to endorse big deals if that's what it takes to boost revenue and profits. While stock price gains in the past year have made it tougher to find cheap targets, it also means buying back shares has become much more costly for companies. About 72 percent of announcements of acquisitions worth $1 billion or more in value in the first quarter were followed by gains in the stock prices of the buyers, up from 60 percent in the previous quarter and compared with a seven-year average of 50 percent, Thomson Reuters data shows.</p><br clear="all"/>

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