Buyback Scorecard As Stocks Edge Higher, Buyback Programs Get RiskierBest & Worst CompaniesIndustry Comparisons

The table below ranks the 276 companies in the S&P 500 that bought back at least 4 percent of their shares from March 31, 2013, through March 31, 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—276
	Company	Industry	Market Capitalization	$ Total Buyback	$ Total Buyback / Market Cap	Buyback Strategy	Buyback Effectiveness	Buyback ROI
	Average		$48,969	$3,699	9.2%	20.8%	-3.9%	16.3%
	Median		$24,408	$1,949	7.7%	20.1%	-3.6%	16.5%
201	The Coca-Cola Co.	Food, Beverage and Tobacco	177,142	8,125	4.6	7.7	-1.7	5.9
202	Deere & Co.	Capital Goods	29,770	5,148	17.3	1.7	4.1	5.8
203	Kellogg Co.	Food, Beverage and Tobacco	23,491	1,475	6.3	7.5	-1.7	5.7
204	The Mosaic Co.	Materials	16,851	2,896	17.2	-8.1	14.8	5.6
205	Capital One Financial Corp.	Diversified Financials	43,308	3,613	8.3	20.2	-12.2	5.5
206	Tenet Healthcare Corp.	Healthcare Equipment and Services	4,909	300	6.1	8.5	-3.0	5.3
207	Parker-Hannifin Corp.	Capital Goods	16,921	1,603	9.5	16.0	-9.3	5.2
208	Twenty-First Century Fox	Media	71,182	8,748	12.3	18.4	-11.6	4.7
209	General Electric Co.	Capital Goods	249,775	10,865	4.3	8.3	-3.5	4.6
210	Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide	Consumer Services	14,336	2,027	14.1	17.2	-10.8	4.5
211	Unum Group	Insurance	8,481	632	7.5	18.6	-11.9	4.4
212	American International Group	Insurance	74,184	6,897	9.3	20.2	-13.5	4.0
213	LyondellBasell Industries	Materials	41,880	7,230	17.3	20.4	-13.7	3.9
214	Tyco International	Commercial and Professional Services	18,087	2,350	13.0	19.0	-13.6	2.8
215	Franklin Resources	Diversified Financials	31,912	1,143	3.6	7.7	-4.9	2.4
216	Prudential Financial	Insurance	36,475	2,641	7.2	21.5	-15.8	2.3
217	The Gap	Retailing	18,145	2,332	12.9	13.8	-10.3	2.1
218	QUALCOMM	Technology Hardware and Equipment	114,380	12,520	10.9	5.9	-3.6	2.1
219	Praxair	Materials	34,847	1,537	4.4	7.8	-5.3	2.0
220	AT&T	Telecommunication Services	169,459	8,734	5.2	2.8	-0.8	1.9
221	Citigroup	Banks	156,360	3,301	2.1	8.3	-6.0	1.8
222	Comerica	Banks	8,036	543	6.8	15.7	-12.1	1.7
223	Citrix Systems	Software and Services	10,208	2,111	20.7	-6.9	9.1	1.6
224	American Express Co.	Diversified Financials	79,343	8,376	10.6	16.8	-13.2	1.4
225	McDonald's Corp.	Consumer Services	93,651	5,243	5.6	3.3	-1.8	1.4
226	AFLAC	Insurance	28,062	2,477	8.8	11.7	-9.4	1.2
227	Juniper Networks	Technology Hardware and Equipment	9,190	3,110	33.8	5.8	-4.4	1.2
228	CBS Corp.	Media	30,187	5,540	18.4	17.9	-14.2	1.1
229	Regions Financial Corp.	Banks	12,690	698	5.5	11.6	-9.5	0.9
230	Fifth Third Bancorp	Banks	15,367	2,029	13.2	10.9	-9.2	0.7
231	NetApp	Technology Hardware and Equipment	11,055	3,047	27.6	6.6	-6.2	0.0
232	Harley-Davidson	Automobiles and Components	12,816	1,161	9.1	11.2	-10.4	-0.3
233	FLIR Systems	Technology Hardware and Equipment	4,374	193	4.4	13.3	-12.0	-0.3
234	The Dow Chemical Co.	Materials	55,274	5,000	9.0	23.4	-19.3	-0.5
235	Philip Morris International	Food, Beverage and Tobacco	116,693	8,392	7.2	-0.8	-0.6	-1.4
236	The ADT Corp.	Commercial and Professional Services	7,106	1,989	28.0	-9.6	7.8	-2.6
237	Exxon Mobil Corp.	Energy	356,549	25,341	7.1	2.4	-5.2	-2.9
238	Teradata Corp.	Software and Services	6,540	1,109	17.0	-16.1	15.7	-2.9
239	W.W. Grainger	Capital Goods	15,835	1,044	6.6	6.0	-9.2	-3.8
240	Ford Motor Co.	Automobiles and Components	64,154	2,167	3.4	12.5	-14.6	-3.9
241	Emerson Electric Co.	Capital Goods	38,796	3,238	8.3	4.2	-8.7	-4.8
242	United Rentals	Capital Goods	8,835	1,041	11.8	31.6	-28.0	-5.2
243	Schlumberger	Energy	106,628	6,292	5.9	6.0	-11.1	-5.7
244	Dover Corp.	Capital Goods	11,083	970	8.8	11.9	-15.8	-5.8
245	GameStop Corp.	Retailing	4,091	564	13.8	27.1	-26.2	-6.2
246	Scripps Networks Interactive	Media	9,027	1,596	17.7	9.5	-14.6	-6.5
247	Halliburton Co.	Energy	37,284	37,284	13.7	3.6	-10.4	-7.2
248	Flowserve Corp.	Capital Goods	7,610	629	8.3	5.5	-12.3	-7.5
249	Eastman Chemical Co.	Materials	10,318	652	6.3	2.3	-10.5	-8.4
250	Chevron Corp.	Energy	197,381	7,879	4.0	-0.7	-7.7	-8.4
Source: Fortuna Advisors Analysis using data from the Capital IQ database. Financial Data from March 2013 to March 2015. Includes the 492 members of the current S&P 500 that were public for the full period. Market Capitalization as of: 03/31/2015. Companies included here if $ Total Buyback / Market Capitalization is greater than 4% or if $ Total Buyback is greater than $1 billion..