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Third-Quarter 2013 Corporate Buyback Scorecard; Best & Worst Companies

Buyback
Scorecard The Most and Least Effective Stock Buyback Programs The S&P 500 as Stock Repurchasers Industry Comparisons

The table below shows the 10 most and least effective stock buyback programs among the companies in the S&P 500 that bought back at least 4 percent or $1 billion of their shares from September 30, 2011 through September 30, 2013, according to their return on investment. 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 these companies’ 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.

The Best and Worst Corporate
Stock Buyback Programs
Best
Company Industry Market
Capitalization
$ Total
Buyback
$ Total
Buyback /
Market Cap
Buyback
Strategy
Buyback
Effectiveness
Buyback ROI
1 Constellation BrandsFood, Beverage and Tobacco10,812 609 5.6 67.2 19.7 100.1
2 GameStop Corp.Retailing5,804660 11.4 47.5 33.7 97.1
3 Gilead SciencesPharmaceuticals, Biotechnology and Life Sciences96,2301,076 1.1 73.3 12.7 95.2
4 Cigna Corp.Healthcare Equipment and Services21,7391,044 4.8 29.6 35.8 76.1
5 Celgene Corp.Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology and Life Sciences63,3934,758 7.5 53.8 13.9 75.2
6 Western Digital Corp.Technology Hardware and Equipment14,9521,596 10.7 45.8 17.8 71.8
7 H&R BlockConsumer Services7,285346 4.8 48.7 15.4 71.6
8 Lincoln National Corp.Insurance11,106 1,043 9.4 39.8 19.1 66.5
9 Gannett Co., Inc.Media6,139258 4.2 56.8 5.1 64.8
10 Yahoo!.Software and Services33,8445,697 16.8 43.2 14.8 64.3
Worst
Company Industry Market
Capitalization
$ Total
Buyback
$ Total
Buyback /
Market Cap
Buyback
Strategy
Buyback
Effectiveness
Buyback ROI
1 Intuitive SurgicalHealthcare Equipment and Services14,9421,348 9.0 3.6 -39.2 -37.0
2 Broadcom Corp.Semiconductors and Semiconductor Equipment15,066 628 4.2 -8.3 -30.4 -36.2
3 Edwards Lifesciences Corp.Healthcare Equipment and Services7,81889011.4 -3.8 -12.4 -15.7
4 F5 NetworksTechnology Hardware and Equipment6,719 385 5.7 -1.5 13.6 -15.0
5 CenturyLinkTelecommunication Services18,849 1,289 6.8 4.8 -17.6 -13.6
6 Teradata Corp.Software and Services9,042496 5.5 4.6 -10.9 -6.8
7 CoachConsumer Durables and Apparel15,323 1,216 7.9 -1.1 -5.7 -6.8
8 AllerganPharmaceuticals, Biotechnology and Life Sciences26,8511,646 6.1 6.0 -12.1 -6.8
9 The Mosaic Co.Materials18,319 1,163 6.3 -15.5 10.7 -6.4
10 CH Robinson WorldwideTransportation9,4981,049 11.0 -7.2 4.5 -3.0
Source: Fortuna Advisors Analysis using data from the Capital IQ database. Financial Data from September 2011 to September 2013. Includes the 489 members of the current S&P 500 that were public for the full period. Market Capitalization as of: 09/30/2013. Companies Included here if $ Total Buyback / Market Capitalization is greater than 4% or if $ Total Buyback is greater than $1 Billion.