Buyback Scorecard Stock Buybacks Wrestle with an Aging BullBest & Worst CompaniesIndustry Comparisons

The table below ranks the 278 companies in the S&P 500 that bought back at least 4 percent of their shares from December 31, 2013, through December 31, 2014. 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—278
	Company	Industry	Market Capitalization	$ Total Buyback	$ Total Buyback / Market Cap	Buyback Strategy	Buyback Effectiveness	Buyback ROI
	Average		$49,204	$3,543	8.7%	25.3%	-5.6%	18.1%
	Median		$24,279	$1,744	7.3%	24.5%	-4.7%	17.2%
101	AutoZone	Retailing	19,748	2,469	12.5	23.3	0.0	23.3
102	Macy's	Retailing	22,703	3,472	15.3	26.7	-3.0	22.9
103	BlackRock	Diversified Financials	59,931	2,610	4.4	36.5	-10.1	22.7
104	Wells Fargo & Co.	Banks	284,386	14,770	5.2	28.9	-4.8	22.7
105	Amphenol Corp.	Technology Hardware and Equipment	16,652	864	5.2	30.4	-6.0	22.6
106	Harris Corp.	Technology Hardware and Equipment	7,512	774	10.3	23.0	-0.4	22.5
107	CarMax	Retailing	14,043	1,163	8.3	27.5	-4.0	22.3
108	Dun & Bradstreet Corp.	Commercial and Professional Services	4,344	645	14.8	24.7	-1.9	22.3
109	Eli Lilly and Co.	Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology and Life Sciences	73,598	2,498	3.4	21.3	0.6	22.0
110	TE Connectivity Ltd.	Technology Hardware and Equipment	25,722	1,184	4.6	34.5	-9.3	22.0
111	Wyndham Worldwide Corp.	Consumer Services	10,571	1,239	11.7	26.9	-3.9	21.9
112	The Interpublic Group of Cos.	Media	8,687	757	8.7	37.0	-11.1	21.7
113	Illinois Tool Works	Capital Goods	37,021	4,987	13.5	25.2	-2.8	21.7
114	Intuitive Surgical	Healthcare Equipment and Services	19,175	2,109	11.0	-2.2	23.9	21.2
115	The Travelers Cos.	Insurance	35,078	5,793	16.5	22.0	-0.7	21.2
116	MasterCard	Software and Services	99,330	5,829	5.9	31.7	-8.1	21.0
117	Aon	Insurance	27,040	3,352	12.4	28.6	-5.9	21.0
118	ACE Limited	Insurance	38,110	1,716	4.5	21.2	-0.2	20.9
119	The Priceline Group	Retailing	59,697	1,634	2.7	34.9	-10.4	20.9
120	CenturyLink	Telecommunication Services	22,589	2,236	9.9	8.2	11.2	20.3
121	Assurant	Insurance	4,808	608	12.7	37.4	-12.5	20.3
122	Corning	Technology Hardware and Equipment	29,393	4,050	13.8	31.4	-8.5	20.3
123	International Paper Co.	Materials	22,697	1,132	5.0	23.0	-2.2	20.2
124	CF Industries Holdings	Materials	13,555	3,344	24.7	14.3	5.2	20.2
125	Pepsico	Food, Beverage and Tobacco	141,519	8,013	5.7	20.7	-0.4	20.2
126	CH Robinson Worldwide	Transportation	10,944	984	9.0	10.7	8.1	19.7
127	PPG Industries	Materials	31,722	1,750	5.5	32.5	-9.7	19.6
128	Express Scripts Holding Co.	Healthcare Equipment and Services	62,140	8,548	13.8	16.8	2.3	19.5
129	Abbott Laboratories	Healthcare Equipment and Services	67,791	3,510	5.2	21.2	-1.6	19.2
130	Republic Services	Commercial and Professional Services	14,310	615	4.3	21.5	-2.0	19.1
131	Tractor Supply Co.	Retailing	10,715	437	4.1	26.2	-6.1	18.6
132	Hasbro	Consumer Durables and Apparel	6,911	563	8.1	27.0	-6.7	18.5
133	The TJX Cos.	Retailing	47,245	3,122	6.6	23.1	-3.9	18.4
134	Comcast Corp.	Media	149,266	6,251	4.2	24.3	-4.9	18.2
135	Huntington Bancshares	Banks	8,568	459	5.4	27.5	-7.5	18.0
136	Merck & Co.	Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology and Life Sciences	161,901	14,219	8.8	18.4	-0.4	17.9
137	Red Hat	Software and Services	12,986	810	6.2	8.8	8.0	17.5
138	The Goldman Sachs Group	Diversified Financials	84,422	11,644	13.8	26.5	-7.1	17.5
139	Agilent Technologies	Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology and Life Sciences	13,728	1,027	7.5	22.5	-4.1	17.5
140	United Parcel Service	Transportation	100,634	6,533	6.5	23.7	-5.4	17.0
141	Tenet Healthcare Corp.	Healthcare Equipment and Services	4,980	400	8.0	38.4	-15.8	16.6
142	Ingersoll-Rand	Capital Goods	16,828	2,588	15.4	30.2	-10.5	16.5
143	Kimberly-Clark Corp.	Household and Personal Products	43,033	2,898	6.7	20.4	-3.3	16.4
144	Cisco Systems	Technology Hardware and Equipment	142,234	14,654	10.3	21.1	-3.9	16.4
145	Johnson & Johnson	Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology and Life Sciences	292,703	10,662	3.6	26.3	-7.9	16.3
146	EMC Corp.	Technology Hardware and Equipment	60,518	5,984	9.9	8.9	6.7	16.2
147	Starbucks Corp.	Consumer Services	61,398	1,137	1.9	26.4	-8.1	16.2
148	Computer Sciences Corp.	Software and Services	8,858	1,304	14.7	33.3	-12.9	16.1
149	Omnicom Group	Media	19,227	1,638	8.5	24.8	-7.0	16.0
150	JPMorgan Chase & Co.	Banks	233,906	9,549	4.1	23.2	-6.1	15.7
Source: Fortuna Advisors Analysis using data from the Capital IQ database. Financial Data from December 2013 to December 2014. Includes the 493 members of the current S&P 500 that were public for the full period. Market Capitalization as of: 12/31/2014. Companies included here if $ Total Buyback / Market Capitalization is greater than 4% or if $ Total Buyback is greater than $1 billion..