Buyback
Scorecard Soaring Buybacks, Sagging ReturnsThe S&P 500 as Stock Repurchasers Best & Worst Companies
The table below ranks the 299 companies in the S&P 500 that bought back at least 4 percent of their shares from September 30, 2013, through September 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 Industries Compare as Stock Repurchasers
Industry Market
Cap ($ Millions)		Total
Buyback (S Millions)		$ Total
Buyback as %
Market Cap 		Buyback
Strategy 		Buyback
Effectiveness 		Buyback ROI
Healthcare Equipment and Services 845,975 54,897 6.526.20.026.1
Food and Staples Retailing539,319 18,171 3.424.0-0.123.9
Retailing 978,075 57,968/td> 5.9 18.0 1.4 19.7
Real Estate 476,166 2,187 0.5 12.2 3.2 15.8
Technology Hardware and Equipment 1,094,346 151,900 13.9 21.3 -7.1 12.7
Consumer Services 319,898 18,502 5.8 15.6 -3.0 12.1
Consumer Durables and Apparel 302,407 14,390 4.8 15.0 -2.7 11.9
Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology and Life Sciences 1,655,466 72,871 4.4 20.3 -7.3 11.5
Insurance 469,671 51,865 11.0 13.3 -1.9 11.1
Banks 1,039,683 51,099 4.9 12.3 -2.5 9.5
Software and Services 2,108,292 118,331 5.6 13.3 -4.0 8.7
Food, Beverage and Tobacco 1,004,354 45,211 4.5 11.0 -3.3 7.2
Transportation 376,908 29,551 7.8 20.6 -13.5 4.3
Diversified Financials 662,785 54,887 8.3 11.2 -6.5 4.0
Commercial and Professional Services 132,296 10,620 8.0 11.0 -7.1 3.1
Media 577,724 59,114 10.2 10.7 -7.7 2.1
Capital Goods 1,239,565 101,519 8.2 11.8 -8.7 2.0
Semiconductors and Semiconductor Equipment 408,161 30,174 7.4 16.4 -12.7 1.7
Telecommunication Services 412,535 10,170 2.5 1.6 -1.6 -0.1
Household and Personal Products 336,850 16,828 5.0 5.4 -5.5 -0.3
Materials 477,721 39,160 8.2 10.4 -9.8 -0.5
Automobiles and Components 179,245 15,267 8.5 1.5 -6.8 -5.5
Utilities 533,559 3,4719 0.7 3.5 -12.9 -9.8
Energy 1,189,54165,2445.5-2.2-11.0-13.0
S&P 500 17,360,542 1,093,6496.314.3-6.07.5
Source: Fortuna Advisors Analysis using data from the Capital IQ database. Financial Data from September 2013 to September 2015. Includes the 486 members of the current S&P 500 that were public for the full period. Market Capitalization as of: 09/30/2015. Companies included here if $ Total Buyback / Market Capitalization is greater than 4% or if $ Total Buyback is greater than $1 billion.