Buyback
Scorecard
CFOs Share Their Stock Buyback Secrets
The S&P 500 as Stock Repurchasers
Best and Worst Programs
The table below shows the 10 most and least effective stock buyback programs among the companies in the S&P 500 that bought back at least 4 percent or $1 billion of their shares from June 30, 2012 through June 30, 2014, according to their return on investment. As calculated by Fortuna Advisors, a New York City-based consultancy that compiled the data for Institutional Investor, buyback ROI measures the overall rate of return of these companies’ buybacks, based on the internal rate of return of the cash flows associated with them. Buyback strategy tracks the performance of the underlying stock in terms of annualized total shareholder return. Once Fortuna determines buyback ROI and buyback strategy, buyback effectiveness can then be calculated as simply the difference between the two, determined as compounded return.
How Industries Compare as Stock Repurchasers
Industry Market
Cap ($ Millions) Total
Buyback (S Millions) $ Total
Buyback as %
Market Cap Buyback
Strategy Buyback
Effectiveness Buyback ROI Technology Hardware and Equipment 1,137,243 103,412 9.1 13.1 18.4 33.8 Media 655,228 56,496 8.6 35.5 -3.8 30.4 Semiconductors and Semiconductor Equipment 409,921 19,674 4.8 16.5 11.0 29.2 Transportation 378,123 21,300 5.6 27.4 0.9 28.5 Capital Goods 1,397,712 78,676 5.6 28.2 0.1 28.3 Insurance 504,454 35,598 7.1 29.2 -1.2 27.6 Healthcare Equipment and Services 752,980 56,804 7.5 22.0 4.2 27.1 Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology and Life Sciences 1,459,954 69,523 4.8 30.8 -3.1 26.8 Materials 634,150 24,576 3.9 26.0 0.1 26.1 Diversified Financials 722,845 45,947 6.4 30.4 -4.2 24.9 Automobiles and Components 217,493 12,610 5.8 28.2 -3.2 24.1 Commercial and Professional Services 123,343 4,282 3.5 24.0 -1.1 22.6 Consumer Services 326,908 12,143 3.7 15.2 6.2 22.3 Banks 1,063,555 35,536 3.3 27.5 -4.7 21.5 Food and Staples Retailing 519,597 24,056 4.6 24.7 -3.0 20.9 Real Estate 408,970 2,091 0.5 17.4 0.9 18.5 Software and Services 1,827,448 117,851 6.4 17.0 1.2 18.5 Energy 1,870,135 73,835 3.9 21.1 -2.2 18.4 Food, Beverage and Tobacco 960,416 46,543 4.8 15.7 -0.5 15.1 Retailing 758,915 51,758 6.8 20.2 -4.6 14.7 Household and Personal Products 363,506 19,534 5.4 17.3 -3.0 13.9 Consumer Durables and Apparel 262,329 10,820 4.1 17.9 -4.9 12.2 Utilities 552,078 1,641 0.3 11.3 -0.4 10.8 Telecommunication Services 418,752 24,802 5.9 8.2 -2.3 5.7 S&P 500 17,726,056 949,506 5.4 22.4 0.5 23.1 Source: Fortuna Advisors Analysis using data from the Capital IQ database. Financial Data from June 2012 to June 2014. Includes the 490 members of the current S&P 500 that were public for the full period. Market Capitalization as of: 06/01/2014. Companies Included here if $ Total Buyback / Market Capitalization is greater than 4% or if $ Total Buyback is greater than $1 Billion.