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%
101	DIRECTV	Media	42,788	3,778	8.8	29.0	-4.7	22.9
102	The Hartford Financial Services Group	Insurance	17,604	2,175	12.4	31.2	-6.6	22.6
103	Express Scripts Holding Co.	Healthcare Equipment and Services	63,237	8,248	13.0	22.2	0.3	22.6
104	Loln National Corp.	Insurance	14,732	1,150	7.8	38.3	-11.4	22.5
105	Illinois Tool Works	Capital Goods	36,265	6,122	16.9	26.9	-3.5	22.4
106	Cisco Systems	Technology Hardware and Equipment	140,508	14,883	10.6	19.3	2.6	22.4
107	Marsh & McLennan Cos.	Insurance	30,199	1,675	5.5	27.7	-4.4	22.1
108	AutoNation	Retailing	7,306	550	7.5	17.3	4.0	22.0
109	Abbott Laboratories.	Healthcare Equipment and Services	69,911	3,931	5.6	18.7	2.6	21.9
110	Ingersoll-Rand	Capital Goods	17,927	2,588	14.4	27.8	-5.3	21.0
111	Intuitive Surgical	Healthcare Equipment and Services	18,603	1,978	10.6	-2.2	23.6	20.8
112	Intel Corp.	Semiconductors and Semiconductor Equipment	148,095	13,806	9.3	30.3	-7.2	20.8
113	PulteGroup	Consumer Durables and Apparel	8,144	482	5.9	5.6	14.4	20.8
114	Harris Corp.	Technology Hardware and Equipment	8,200	615	7.5	27.6	-5.3	20.7
115	Seagate Technology Public Limited Co.	Technology Hardware and Equipment	17,083	2,861	16.7	36.6	-11.8	20.5
116	The TJX Cos.	Retailing	47,877	3,239	6.8	24.4	-3.2	20.4
117	MasterCard	Software and Services	99,215	6,010	6.1	29.7	-7.5	20.0
118	The Boeing Co.	Capital Goods	105,714	10,302	9.7	39.4	-14.1	19.8
119	Republic Services	Commercial and Professional Services	14,320	634	4.4	17.5	1.9	19.7
120	Dollar General Corp.	Retailing	22,871	1,935	8.5	23.5	-3.1	19.7
121	CH Robinson Worldwide	Transportation	10,826	939	8.7	12.0	6.7	19.5
122	Huntington Bancshares	Banks	8,961	478	5.3	25.0	-4.4	19.5
123	Marathon Petroleum Corp.	Energy	27,951	4,702	16.8	13.2	5.5	19.4
124	Dun & Bradstreet Corp.	Commercial and Professional Services	4,625	524	11.3	26.3	-5.6	19.3
125	Morgan Stanley	Diversified Financials	70,545	2,396	3.4	28.0	-6.8	19.2
126	Wells Fargo & Co.	Banks	279,920	16,979	6.1	26.6	-5.8	19.2
127	Oracle Corp.	Software and Services	188,439	18,709	9.9	12.9	5.6	19.2
128	Comcast Corp.	Media	143,332	7,751	5.4	22.2	-2.8	18.8
129	Computer Sciences Corp.	Software and Services	9,208	1,404	15.2	21.5	-2.2	18.8
130	Hasbro	Consumer Durables and Apparel	7,861	567	7.2	25.5	-5.5	18.6
131	F5 Networks	Technology Hardware and Equipment	8,292	1,057	12.8	9.9	7.5	18.2
132	Xerox Corp.	Software and Services	14,292	1,449	10.1	32.0	-10.6	17.9
133	Honeywell International	Capital Goods	81,427	2,221	2.7	22.9	-4.3	17.6
134	The Bank of New York Mellon Corp.	Diversified Financials	44,853	2,843	6.3	21.2	-3.2	17.3
135	ACE Limited	Insurance	36,495	1,909	5.2	17.4	-0.4	16.9
136	VeriSign	Software and Services	7,828	1,954	25.0	17.7	-0.6	16.9
137	Varian Medical Systems	Healthcare Equipment and Services	9,416	1,055	11.2	12.5	3.7	16.7
138	Omnicom Group	Media	19,239	1,636	8.5	20.0	-2.9	16.5
139	Pepsico	Food, Beverage and Tobacco	141,743	8,511	6.0	17.5	-0.9	16.4
140	Microsoft Corp.	Software and Services	333,525	18,522	5.6	29.0	-10.0	16.2
141	Bed Bath & Beyond	Retailing	14,250	3,535	24.8	13.6	2.2	16.1
142	Avery Dennison Corp.	Materials	4,787	442	9.2	19.0	-2.5	16.0
143	Laboratory Corp. of America	Healthcare Equipment and Services	12,647	1,171	9.3	16.0	-0.1	15.9
144	The Western Union Co.	Software and Services	10,851	852	7.9	18.0	-1.9	15.8
145	Merck & Co.	Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology and Life Sciences	163,139	14,654	9.0	21.7	-4.9	15.7
146	Quest Diagnostics	Healthcare Equipment and Services	11,090	1,217	11.0	14.0	1.2	15.4
147	Accenture	Software and Services	58,674	5,545	9.5	13.0	2.0	15.3
148	Waters Corp.	Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology and Life Sciences	10,322	629	6.1	13.7	1.4	15.3
149	XL Group	Insurance	9,443	1,255	13.3	14.7	0.4	15.2
150	Agilent Technologies	Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology and Life Sciences	13,953	1,049	7.5	15.0	-0.2	14.7
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..