Buyback
Scorecard The Most and Least Effective Stock Buyback Programs Best and Worst Programs Industry Comparisons
The table below ranks the 268 companies in the S&P 500 that bought back at least 4 percent of their shares from September 30, 2011, through September 30, 2013. 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—263
Company Industry Market
Capitalization 		$ Total
Buyback 		$ Total
Buyback
/ Market Cap 		Buyback
Strategy 		Buyback
Effectiveness 		Buyback ROI
  Average   $41,922 $3,016 8.7% 23.1% 4.4% 28.5%
  Median   $17,310 $1,400 7.8% 22.0% 3.5% 28.4%
101 XL Group Insurance 8,820 1,029 11.7 26.6 4.9 32.8
102 Express Scripts Healthcare Equipment and Services 50,317 1,553 3.1 16.5 14.0 32.7
103 Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology and Life Sciences 76,192 2,677 3.5 27.5 3.9 32.6
104 Cisco Systems Technology Hardware and Equipment 125,626 8,166 6.5 28.7 2.9 32.5
105 The Bank of New York Mellon Corp. Diversified Financials 34,733 1,924 5.5 20.7 9.6 32.3
106 CareFusion Corp. Healthcare Equipment and Services 7,889 564 7.1 21.3 8.9 32.1
107 American Express Co. Diversified Financials 81,476 7,502 9.2 26.0 4.7 32.0
108 The TJX Cos. Retailing 40,332 2,689 6.7 41.2 -6.6 31.9
109 Murphy Oil Corp. Energy 11,273 500 4.4 15.6 14.0 31.7
110 Legg Mason Diversified Financials 4,126 632 15.3 10.1 19.4 31.5
111 SanDisk Corp. Technology Hardware and Equipment 14,306 1,674 11.7 21.5 8.0 31.2
112 Lam Research Corp. Semiconductors and Semiconductor Equipment 8,299 1,721 20.7 11.3 17.8 31.1
113 WellPoint Healthcare Equipment and Services 24,996 4,353 17.4 15.6 13.5 31.1
114 Texas Instruments Semiconductors and Semiconductor Equipment 44,366 4,234 9.5 20.2 9.0 31.1
115 L-3 Communications Capital Goods 8,466 1,245 14.7 19.4 9.8 31.1
116 The J. M. Smucker Co. Food, Beverage and Tobacco 11,042 801 7.3 23.8 5.7 30.8
117 ConAgra Foods Food, Beverage and Tobacco 12,806 628 4.9 22.8 6.4 30.7
118 BorgWarner Automobiles and Components 11,607 610 5.3 16.4 12.2 30.7
119 Marathon Petroleum Corp. Energy 20,137 3,691 18.3 41.1 -7.5 30.4
120 UnitedHealth Group Incorporated Healthcare Equipment and Services 72,806 6,332 8.7 23.8 5.1 30.1
121 3M Co. Capital Goods 81,613 6,236 7.6 20.7 7.8 30.1
122 Illinois Tool Works Capital Goods 34,160 2,497 7.3 26.6 2.7 30.1
123 McGraw Hill Financial Diversified Financials 18,050 1,983 11.0 26.3 3.0 30.0
124 Xerox Corp. Technology Hardware and Equipment 12,683 1,616 12.7 10.4 17.6 29.8
125 Automatic Data Processing Software and Services 34,759 1,442 4.1 24.0 4.6 29.7
126 Wyndham Worldwide Corp. Consumer Services 8,107 1,324 16.3 41.5 -8.6 29.4
127 General Dynamics Corp. Capital Goods 30,620 1,307 4.3 18.7 8.7 29.0
128 Harley-Davidson Automobiles and Components 14,416 741 5.1 25.6 2.6 28.9
129 People's United Financial Banks 4,452 553 12.4 16.2 10.8 28.8
130 L Brands Retailing 17,714 801 4.5 33.5 -3.7 28.6
131 CVS Caremark Corp. Food and Staples Retailing 69,632 6,602 9.5 31.4 -2.1 28.6
132 Coca-Cola Enterprises Food, Beverage and Tobacco 10,750 1,874 17.4 21.0 6.2 28.4
133 Tyco International Commercial and Professional Services 16,171 800 4.9 29.8 -1.2 28.1
134 Stanley Black & Decker Capital Goods 14,498 1,106 7.6 21.2 5.5 27.8
135 The Travelers Cos. Insurance 31,659 4,151 13.1 29.1 -1.2 27.7
136 FMC Corp. Materials 9,780 571 5.8 31.1 -2.7 27.5
137 Omnicom Group Media 16,554 1,839 11.1 25.9 1.2 27.5
138 General Mills Food, Beverage and Tobacco 30,394 1,546 5.1 19.7 6.3 27.2
139 E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. Materials 54,076 1,400 2.6 12.9 12.6 27.2
140 Zimmer Healthcare Equipment and Services 13,927 1,107 8.0 19.8 6.2 27.2
141 Mattel Consumer Durables and Apparel 14,430 583 4.0 32.6 -4.2 27.0
142 Agilent Technologies Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology and Life Sciences 16,953 1,072 6.3 11.4 13.4 26.3
143 Nike Consumer Durables and Apparel 64,675 2,975 4.6 24.1 1.7 26.2
144 The Nasdaq OMX Group Diversified Financials 5,373 390 7.3 18.2 6.8 26.2
145 Best Buy Co. Retailing 12,807 574 4.5 16.0 8.8 26.2
146 Becton Dickinson and Co. Healthcare Equipment and Services 19,425 1,951 10.0 14.1 10.5 26.1
147 Robert Half International Commercial and Professional Services 5,419 311 5.7 26.7 -0.6 25.9
148 Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Consumer Services 12,954 557 4.3 20.3 4.6 25.8
149 Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology and Life Sciences 190,168 16,425 8.6 28.6 -2.7 25.1
150 Cablevision Systems Corp. Media 4,503 290 6.4 -1.6 26.9 24.9
Source: Fortuna Advisors Analysis using data from the Capital IQ database. Financial Data from Septmeber 2011 to September 2013. Includes the 489 members of the current S&P 500 that were public for the full period. Market Capitalization as of: 09/30/2013. Companies Included here if $ Total Buyback / Market Capitalization is greater than 4% or if $ Total Buyback is greater than $1 Billion.