Buyback
Scorecard
Stock Buybacks Prepare for the Bear Market
Best & Worst Companies
Industry Comparisons
The table below ranks the 284 companies in the S&P 500 that bought back at least 4 percent of their shares from June 30, 2013, through June 30, 2015. The companies are ranked according to their return on investment from these repurchases. 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 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 the S&P 500 Stack Up
as Stock Repurchasers
1—50 | 51—100 | 101—150 | 151—200 | 201—250 | 251—284
Company Industry Market
Capitalization $ Total
Buyback $ Total
Buyback
/ Market Cap Buyback
Strategy Buyback
Effectiveness Buyback ROI Average $49,337 $3,692 9.5% 17.8% -3.2% 14.2% Median $22,959 $1,908 7.6% 17.9% -3.7% 14.9% 151 Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Consumer Services 13,857 2,124 15.3 17.8 -4.3 12.7 152 The TJX Cos. Retailing 45,021 3,345 7.4 17.4 -4.1 12.6 153 General Mills Food, Beverage and Tobacco 33,214 2,907 8.8 10.1 2.2 12.5 154 Capital One Financial Corp. Diversified Financials 48,069 4,237 8.8 21.4 -7.7 12.1 155 The Priceline Group Retailing 59,684 2,197 3.7 25.0 -10.3 12.0 156 State Street Corp. Diversified Financials 31,699 3,990 12.6 13.7 -1.7 11.7 157 Pepsico Food, Beverage and Tobacco 137,775 9,115 6.6 11.3 0.3 11.6 158 Torchmark Corp. Insurance 7,342 897 12.2 17.9 -5.6 11.3 159 Expeditors International of Washington Transportation 8,819 979 11.1 13.8 -2.3 11.2 160 Ecolab Materials 33,668 1,287 3.8 18.0 -5.8 11.2 161 Union Pacific Corp. Transportation 83,809 6,215 7.4 19.9 -7.6 10.8 162 Nielsen Holdings Commercial and Professional Services 16,478 797 4.8 16.6 -5.0 10.8 163 Verizon Communications Telecommunication Services 190,098 5,074 2.7 2.3 8.1 10.6 164 International Paper Co. Materials 20,124 1,137 5.6 10.3 0.3 10.6 165 The Dow Chemical Co. Materials 58,993 4,920 8.3 28.0 -13.7 10.5 166 L-3 Communications Holdings Capital Goods 9,338 1,780 19.1 21.8 -9.3 10.4 167 E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. Materials 57,890 2,353 4.1 18.8 -7.1 10.3 168 Omnicom Group Media 16,977 1,489 8.8 13.9 -3.3 10.1 169 Johnson Controls Automobiles and Components 32,434 2,249 6.9 22.1 -9.8 10.1 170 Varian Medical Systems Healthcare Equipment and Services 8,416 1,052 12.5 14.3 -4.0 9.7 171 U.S. Bancorp Banks 76,950 4,452 5.8 15.5 -5.3 9.4 172 Rockwell Automation Capital Goods 16,773 974 5.8 20.6 -9.3 9.4 173 Seagate Technology Technology Hardware and Equipment 15,076 2,999 19.9 21.3 -9.9 9.3 174 Western Digital Corp. Technology Hardware and Equipment 18,108 1,786 9.9 29.9 -16.0 9.2 175 eBay Software and Services 73,181 4,402 6.0 4.9 4.1 9.2 176 Citrix Systems Software and Services 11,246 2,118 18.8 1.5 7.6 9.2 177 The Chubb Corp. Insurance 21,859 2,825 12.9 8.5 0.5 9.0 178 Urban Outfitters Retailing 4,485 888 19.8 -3.2 12.4 8.9 179 General Motors Co. Automobiles and Components 52,989 7,714 14.6 8.6 0.1 8.6 180 CH Robinson Worldwide Transportation 9,099 940 10.3 9.4 -0.7 8.6 181 Amgen Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology and Life Sciences 116,725 1,078 0.9 26.6 -14.2 8.6 182 Citigroup Banks 167,606 4,672 2.8 6.5 1.7 8.3 183 General Electric Co. Capital Goods 267,717 6,998 2.6 12.0 -3.3 8.2 184 Intel Corp. Semiconductors and Semiconductor Equipment 144,289 14,055 9.7 20.9 -10.6 8.0 185 Deere & Co. Capital Goods 32,402 5,345 16.5 5.2 2.6 8.0 186 DENTSPLY International Healthcare Equipment and Services 7,207 318 4.4 12.0 -3.7 7.9 187 MetLife Insurance 62,475 2,000 3.2 16.4 7.5 7.7 188 Comerica Banks 9,135 520 5.7 16.1 -7.5 7.4 189 PulteGroup Consumer Durables and Apparel 7,347 696 9.5 0.0 6.9 6.9 190 CenturyLink Telecommunication Servicess 16,563 1,646 9.9 2.9 3.9 6.9 191 Colgate-Palmolive Co.. Household and Personal Products 59,168 3,047 5.1 9.3 -2.3 6.7 192 Merck & Co. Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology and Life Sciences 160,840 9,838 6.1 15.8 -7.9 6.6 193 Symantec Corp. Software and Services 15,827 965 6.1 4.5 2.0 6.6 194 Unum Group Insurance 8,920 637 7.1 14.2 -6.7 6.5 195 Bed Bath & Beyond Retailing 11,817 3,596 30.4 2.5 3.5 6.1 196 Kimberly-Clark Corp. Household and Personal Products 38,584 2,462 6.4 9.7 -3.3 6.1 197 Assurant Insurance 4,550 603 13.2 17.3 -9.7 5.9 198 ACE Ltd. Insurance 33,208 2,254 6.8 12.3 -5.7 5.9 199 Norfolk Southern Corp. Transportation 26,632 1,396 5.2 15.6 -8.7 5.6 200 Bank of America Corp. Banks 178,746 4,667 2.6 14.4 -7.7 5.6 Source: Fortuna Advisors Analysis using data from the Capital IQ database. Financial Data from June 2013 to June 2015. Includes the 488 members of the current S&P 500 that were public for the full period. Market Capitalization as of: 06/30/2015. Companies included here if $ Total Buyback / Market Capitalization is greater than 4% or if $ Total Buyback is greater than $1 billion..