Buyback Scorecard Soaring Buybacks, Sagging ReturnsBest & Worst CompaniesIndustry Comparisons

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 the S&P 500 Stack Up as Stock Repurchasers 1—50 | 51—100 | 101—150 | 151—200 | 201—250 | 251—299
	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%
101	Juniper Networks	Technology Hardware and Equipment	9,884	3,566	36.1	14.3	-1.5	12.6
102	Torchmark Corp.	Insurance	7,057	919	13.0	13.4	-0.7	12.6
103	Robert Half International	Commercial and Professional Services	6,881	416	6.0	22.7	-8.3	12.6
104	F5 Networks	Technology Hardware and Equipment	8,222	1,257	15.3	20.0	-6.5	12.2
105	V.F. Corp.	Consumer Durables and Apparel	29,033	1,463	5.0	24.0	-9.7	11.9
106	GameStop Corp.	Retailing	4,347	491	11.3	-0.6	12.5	11.9
107	Comcast Corp.	Media	141,902	10,521	7.4	18.8	-5.9	11.8
108	The Priceline Group	Retailing	62,711	3,018	4.8	15.2	-3.1	11.7
109	Delphi Automotive	Automobiles and Components	21,622	2,074	9.6	19.2	-6.4	11.6
110	St. Jude Medical	Healthcare Equipment and Services	17,775	1,200	6.8	19.7	-6.8	11.6
111	The PNC Financial Services Group	Banks	45,813	2,775	6.1	14.8	-3.1	11.2
112	Wells Fargo & Co.	Banks	263,598	17,515	6.6	16.6	-4.8	11.0
113	Coca-Cola Enterprises	Food, Beverage and Tobacco	11,076	1,644	14.8	15.6	-4.0	11.0
114	AbbVie	Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology and Life Sciences	90,064	7,196	8.0	25.1	-11.3	11.0
115	The Western Union Co.	Software and Services	9,390	999	10.6	6.0	4.7	11.0
116	Marriott International	Consumer Services	18,134	3,521	19.4	33.7	-17.0	10.9
117	Waste Management	Commercial and Professional Services	22,527	1,439	6.4	12.9	-1.8	10.9
118	Nielsen Holdings	Commercial and Professional Services	16,314	970	5.9	18.6	-6.5	10.9
119	AutoNation	Retailing	6,600	748	11.3	12.3	-1.4	10.8
120	Aon	Insurance	24,815	3,477	14.0	20.1	-7.8	10.7
121	The Travelers Cos.	Insurance	30,974	6,556	21.1	13.8	-2.8	10.6
122	FedEx Corp.	Transportation	40,657	6,023	14.8	22.2	-9.5	10.6
123	Morgan Stanley	Diversified Financials	61,532	3,547	5.8	17.8	-6.4	10.3
124	Time Warner	Media	56,071	8,413	15.0	16.6	-5.5	10.2
125	The Interpublic Group of Cos.	Media	7,851	648	8.3	13.6	-3.2	9.9
126	Pfizer	Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology and Life Sciences	193,716	14,484	7.5	12.2	-2.2	9.8
127	Expeditors International of Washington	Transportation	8,900	1,103	12.4	8.3	1.4	9.8
128	Amphenol Corp.	Technology Hardware and Equipment	15,754	763	4.8	18.3	-7.5	9.4
129	SunTrust Banks	Banks	19,657	974	5.0	13.2	-3.4	9.4
130	Microsoft Corp.	Software and Services	353,991	24,328	6.9	20.1	-9.1	9.2
131	Ametek	Capital Goods	12,670	552	4.4	10.1	-1.1	8.9
132	DENTSPLY International	Healthcare Equipment and Services	7,070	322	4.5	12.4	-3.1	8.9
133	Pepsico	Food, Beverage and Tobacco	138,526	9,171	6.6	10.7	-1.7	8.8
134	Honeywell International	Capital Goods	74,025	2,949	4.0	13.0	-3.8	8.7
135	Macy's	Retailing	16,986	4,029	23.7	18.3	-8.2	8.6
136	Marsh & McLennan Cos.	Insurance	27,676	2,392	8.6	17.7	-8.0	8.3
137	Kellogg Co.	Food, Beverage and Tobacco	23,531	1,071	4.6	5.4	2.7	8.2
138	Citigroup	Banks	149,318	6,184	4.1	4.1	3.0	7.3
139	CH Robinson Worldwide	Transportation	9,611	443	4.6	9.5	-2.0	7.2
140	Phillips 66	Energy	41,340	4,032	9.8	20.0	-10.7	7.2
141	Lam Research Corp.	Semiconductors and Semiconductor Equipment	10,355	812	7.8	23.3	-13.2	7.1
142	KeyCorp.	Banks	10,940	912	8.3	11.1	-4.0	6.6
143	Textron	Capital Goods	10,405	551	5.3	22.2	-13.1	6.2
144	Rockwell Collins	Capital Goods	10,784	541	5.0	11.8	-5.2	6.0
145	Kimberly-Clark Corp.	Household and Personal Products	39,721	2,442	6.1	12.5	-6.1	5.7
146	U.S. Bancorp	Banks	72,219	4,484	6.2	10.7	-4.5	5.6
147	The Allstate Corp.	Insurance	23,319	4,966	21.3	13.6	-7.0	5.6
148	State Street Corp.	Diversified Financials	27,429	3,618	13.2	6.0	-0.5	5.4
149	The Boeing Co.	Capital Goods	88,980	13,004	14.6	16.1	-9.2	5.4
150	Bank of America Corp.	Banks	162,631	4,601	2.8	9.4	-3.8	5.2
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..