Buyback Scorecard Have Stock Buybacks Lost Their Credibility?Best & Worst CompaniesIndustry ComparisonsThe table below ranks the 305 companies in the S&P 500 that bought back at least 4 percent or more than $1 billion of their shares from March 31, 2014 to March 31, 2016. 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—300 | 301—305
  Company Industry Market
Capitalization 		$ Total
Buyback 		$ Total
Buyback
/ Market Cap 		Buyback
Strategy 		Buyback
Effectiveness 		Buyback ROI
  Average   $45,750 $3,542 10.2% 3.0% -8.6% -5.3%
  Median   $20,394 $1,726 7.8% 3.6% -7.4% -5.3%
151 Moody's Corp. Diversified Financials 18,818 2,591 13.8 8.5 -12.6 -5.2
152 Agilent Technologies Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology and Life Sciences 13,062 611 4.7 -2.8 -2.4 -5.2
153 Corning Technology Hardware and Equipment 22,974 4,513 19.6 1.6 -6.8 -5.3
154 The Hershey Co. Food, Beverage and Tobacco 19,939 1,192 6.0 -4.4 -1.1 -5.5
155 PPG Industries Materials 29,742 1,451 4.9 3.1 -8.4 -5.5
156 General Motors Co. Automobiles and Components 48,653 7,097 14.6 -5.9 0.0 -5.9
157 Ingersoll-Rand Capital Goods 15,927 1,087 6.8 -2.6 -3.5 -5.9
158 Patterson Cos. Healthcare Equipment and Services 4,495 248 5.5 4.9 -10.4 -6.0
159 EMC Corp. Technology Hardware and Equipment 51,889 4,642 8.9 0.4 -6.5 -6.1
160 Merck & Co. Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology and Life Sciences 146,839 11,635 7.9 0.4 -6.6 -6.2
161 Amgen Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology and Life Sciences 112,761 2,681 2.4 12.9 -17.2 -6.5
162 American International Group Insurance 61,283 18,212 29.7 5.5 -11.7 -6.9
163 Delphi Automotive Automobiles and Components 20,718 2,388 11.5 5.0 -11.5 -7.1
164 Symantec Corp. Software and Services 11,988 1,340 11.2 0.8 -7.9 -7.1
165 Apple Technology Hardware and Equipment 604,304 70,783 11.7 16.6 -20.4 -7.2
166 Deere & Co. Capital Goods 24,277 4,614 19.0 -2.7 -4.8 -7.5
167 FedEx Corp. Transportation 43,678 4,260 9.8 1.8 -9.1 -7.5
168 CenturyLink Telecommunication Services 17,382 1,153 6.6 2.1 -9.5 -7.5
169 Varian Medical Systems Healthcare Equipment and Services 7,642 984 12.9 -2.9 -4.9 -7.6
170 The Boeing Co. Capital Goods 84,098 13,753 16.4 0.1 -7.8 -7.7
171 Oracle Corp. Software and Services 169,771 18,619 11.0 0.0 -7.8 -7.8
172 Loews Corp. Insurance 12,970 1,902 14.7 -8.8 0.8 -8.1
173 Huntington Bancshares Banks 7,610 452 5.9 0.7 -8.9 -8.2
174 The Bank of New York Mellon Corp. Diversified Financials 39,629 4,226 10.7 6.7 -14.1 -8.4
175 United Continental Holdings Transportation 21,519 2,937 13.6 8.7 -15.8 -8.5
176 Exxon Mobil Corp. Energy 347,129 14,088 4.1 -5.4 -3.3 -8.5
177 Northern Trust Corp. Diversified Financials 14,906 955 6.4 2.5 -10.9 -8.7
178 Michael Kors Holdings Consumer Durables and Apparel 10,219 1,448 14.2 -26.1 23.3 -8.8
179 Rockwell Automation Capital Goods 14,949 1,124 7.5 -5.4 -3.7 -8.9
180 CBS Corp. Media 25,464 4,126 16.2 -11.2 2.5 -9.0
181 American Airlines Group Transportation 24,730 6,405 25.9 9.6 -16.9 -9.0
182 Marriott International Consumer Services 18,043 3,355 18.6 13.9 -20.2 -9.0
183 Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Consumer Services 14,183 2,007 14.2 -3.4 -6.0 -9.2
184 V.F. Corp. Consumer Durables and Apparel 27,422 1,653 6.0 3.4 -12.2 -9.3
185 T. Rowe Price Group Diversified Financials 18,189 1,579 8.7 -3.9 -5.7 -9.4
186 Express Scripts Holding Co. Healthcare Equipment and Services 43,467 12,484 28.7 -2.0 -7.9 -9.8
187 LyondellBasell Industries N.V. Materials 36,838 10,229 27.8 0.8 -10.5 -9.8
188 W.W. Grainger Capital Goods 14,373 1,947 13.5 -6.6 -3.9 -10.3
189 SunTrust Banks Banks 18,220 1,238 6.8 -0.9 -9.7 -10.6
190 Wyndham Worldwide Corp. Consumer Services 8,599 1,320 15.4 0.5 -11.1 -10.7
191 Eaton Corp. Capital Goods 28,655 1,432 5.0 -10.6 -0.1 -10.7
192 Gilead Sciences Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology and Life Sciences 124,437 22,001 17.7 7.9 -17.8 -11.3
193 Jacobs Engineering Group Capital Goods 5,336 573 10.7 -20.4 10.8 -11.8
194 Ford Motor Co. Automobiles and Components 53,758 2,238 4.2 -5.7 -6.9 -12.2
195 Ametek Capital Goods 11,711 797 6.8 -3.4 -9.2 -12.3
196 Praxair Materials 32,649 1,333 4.1 -8.2 -4.5 -12.4
197 Parker-Hannifin Corp. Capital Goods 15,007 1,899 12.7 -6.6 -6.9 -13.0
198 Tyco International Commercial and Professional Services 15,588 2,000 12.8 -7.8 -6.0 -13.3
199 Emerson Electric Co. Capital Goods 34,973 3,508 10.0 -11.6 -2.2 -13.5
200 Textron Capital Goods 9,887 624 6.3 -2.9 -10.9 -13.6
Source: Fortuna Advisors Analysis using data from the Capital IQ database.

Financial Data from March 2014 to March 2016. Includes the 486 members of the
current S&P 500 that were public for the full period.

Market Capitalization as of: 3/31/2016.

Companies Included here if $ Total Buyback / Market Capitalization is greater than
4% or if $ Total Buyback is greater than $1 billion.