| Buyback Scorecard The Risk in No-Risk Stock BuybacksThe 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 ($ Millions) | $ Total Buyback as % Market Cap | Buyback Strategy | Buyback Effectiveness | Buyback ROI |
| Consumer Durables and Apparel | 296,366 | 13,193 | 4.5 | 13.0 | 3.7 | 17.2 |
| Consumer Services | 337,314 | 22,383 | 6.6 | 16.0 | 1.0 | 17.2 |
| Healthcare Equipment and Services | 897,080 | 53,130 | 5.9 | 19.7 | -3.7 | 15.3 |
| Real Estate | 527,036 | 3,118 | 0.6 | 13.6 | 0.9 | 14.7 |
| Retailing | 1,067,254 | 61,148 | 5.7 | 14.4 | -0.8 | 13.5 |
| Food and Staples Retailing | 543,624 | 20,274 | 3.7 | 12.1 | 0.9 | 13.0 |
| Semiconductors and Semiconductor Equipment | 405,831 | 28,891 | 7.1 | 19.3 | -6.0 | 12.1 |
| Food, Beverage and Tobacco | 1,077,518 | 47,936 | 4.4 | 12.1 | -2.4 | 9.4 |
| Software and Services | 2,427,642 | 117,569 | 4.8 | 12.5 | -3.4 | 8.6 |
| Insurance | 468,972 | 53,013 | 11.3 | 9.4 | -0.9 | 8.5 |
| Technology Hardware and Equipment | 1,025,484 | 150,036 | 14.6 | 15.6 | -6.7 | 7.9 |
| Commercial and Professional Services | 135,369 | 9,245 | 6.8 | 10.9 | -3.7 | 6.8 |
| Banks | 1,101,222 | 53,549 | 4.9 | 10.6 | -4.4 | 5.7 |
| Household and Personal Products | 382,020 | 18,612 | 4.9 | 5.3 | -1.1 | 4.2 |
| Transportation | 370,244 | 30,115 | 8.1 | 14.3 | -9.0 | 4.0 |
| Automobiles and Components | 185,578 | 15,571 | 8.4 | 0.6 | 2.2 | 2.9 |
| Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology and Life Sciences | 1,803,215 | 76,380 | 4.2 | 13.3 | -9.4 | 2.7 |
| Capital Goods | 1,276,728 | 101,279 | 7.9 | 6.8 | -4.8 | 1.6 |
| Media | 580,514 | 59,077 | 10.2 | 6.0 | -6.7 | -1.1 |
| Telecommunication Services | 438,389 | 8,489 | 1.9 | 0.7 | -2.4 | -1.6 |
| Diversified Financials | 1,007,375 | 57,668 | 5.7 | 5.0 | -6.5 | -1.8 |
| Materials | 515,843 | 42,005 | 8.1 | 4.8 | -7.9 | -3.4 |
| Energy | 1,183,364 | 56,076 | 4.7 | -3.0 | -7.2 | -9.9 |
| Utilities | 546,403 | 3,707 | 0.7 | -2.1 | -15.3 | -17.0 |
| S&P 500 | 18,600,386 | 1,102,466 | 5.9 | 10.7 | -4.9 | 5.3 |
| Source: Fortuna Advisors Analysis using data from the Capital IQ database. Financial Data from December 2013 to December 2015. Includes the 485 members of the current S&P 500 that were public for the full period. Market Capitalization as of: 12/31/2015. | ||||||