Veterinary company stocks rebound following sharp correction to U.S. and world financial markets

National Report –

Veterinary company stocks rebounded in early trading following yesterday’s large-scale stock market sell-off impacting U.S. and world markets.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 5.6 percent or 634 points, which ranked as the biggest decline since the crash of 2008. On July 21, the Dow was at 12,724, and yesterday it closed at 10,809. The S&P 500 is off some 18 percent since its peak on April 29,

The New York Times

reports.But the U.S. markets began to climb back earlier today as the Dow surged nearly 200 points.

So how have some of the publicly traded veterinary companies fared during this market volatility?

• On Aug. 9, VCA Antech was trading at $16.20 a share after dropping below the $16 a share price for a short period. On Aug. 1, shares were trading between $19.41-$18.89.

• On July 22, IDEXX stock hit a 52-week high with a share price of $84.66. Yesterday, the stock closed at $71.18 a share. The stock rebounded today with a $75.58 per share price at mid-day.

• Abaxis announced a stock repurchase program of up to $40 million in common stock. Clint Severson, chairman and chief executive officer of Abaxis, says in a prepared statement on Aug. 8, "We believe that the repurchase program is a good investment of available funds and underscores our commitment to enhancing shareholder value."

From Aug. 3-9 the stock was off about 6 percent and was trading at $20.77 a share by noon.

• MWI Veterinary Supply saw nearly a 16 percent drop in its share price from Aug. 3-9, 2011. The stock was trading near $73.84 a share on Tuesday as it rebounded following Monday’s sell-off. On Monday Aug. 8, MWI's stock reached $81.84 a share.