S&P 500 2014 Buybacks Post 16.3% Increase
Share Count Reductions Continue as 20% of the Index Add a Tail Wind to EPS
PR Newswire
NEW YORK

NEW YORK, March 23, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- S&P Dow Jones Indices announced today that preliminary results show that S&P 500® fourth quarter 2014 stock buybacks, or share repurchases, decreased 8.7% to $132.6 billion down from the $145.2 billion spent on share repurchases during the third quarter of this year. Historical S&P 500 buyback data can be found at: www.spdji.com/indices/equity/sp-500.

According to S&P Dow Jones Indices:

  • The $132.6 billion Q4 spend represents a 2.5% increase from the $129.4 billion spent during the fourth quarter of 2013.
  • For fiscal year 2014, S&P 500 issues increased their buyback expenditures by 16.3% to $553.3 billion from $475.6 billion posted in 2013.
  • The high mark was reached in 2007, when companies spent $589.1 billion.
  • The recession low point was $137.6 billion, recorded in 2009.

"Share count reduction continues to be the market takeaway," says Howard Silverblatt, Senior Index Analyst at S&P Dow Jones Indices. "It has significantly increased earnings-per-share (EPS) for 20% of the index issues in each of the past four quarters. While fourth quarter expenditures were down 8.7%, the number of issues reducing their share count by at least 4% year-over-year, and therefore increasing their EPS by at least that amount, continues to be in the 20% area – a significant level."

Additionally, S&P Dow Jones Indices data shows:

  • More issues reduced their share count this quarter than last, with 308 doing so in Q4, up from 257 in Q3 and 276 in Q4 2013.
  • Significant changes (generally considered 1% or greater for the quarter) continued to strongly favor reductions, and also increased, as 117 issues reduced their share count by at least 1%, compared to last quarter's 101 and the 112 which did so in Q4 2013.
  • Share reduction change impacts of at least 4% (Q4 2014 over Q4 2013), which can be seen in EPS comparisons, were flat at 99 in Q4 2014 from Q3, but up from the 83 posted in Q4 2013.

Total Shareholder Returns:

Silverblatt also notes that total shareholders' returns, through regular cash dividends, as well as buybacks, continues to increase and set records. For the year ended December 2014, buyback and dividend expenditures combined, reached a new record high of $903.7 billion, up from the $787.4 billion spent in 2013.

"While the $350.4 billion in dividends for the year set a record, the $553.3 billion in buybacks, which represents 61.2% of the total shareholder return, failed to reach the 2007 buyback bonanza heyday high of $589.1 billion," comments Silverblatt.

Silverblatt stated that issues had a record amount of cash reserves at the end of 2014, and that Q1 2015 cash dividends are on its way to post yet another record quarter, after its record 2014 payment.

"The shareholder return trend has been strong and appears to be increasing," adds Silverblatt. "Based on the recent bank declarations 2015 may easily be another record year for dividends, potentially, its fifth consecutive annual double-digit gain. Depending on the market, it may be a record year for buybacks as well."

Sectors:

On a sector basis, Information Technology continued to dominate buybacks, although its percentage of the Q4 2014 buybacks declined to 24.2% from last quarter's 29.6%.  The decline of $10.9 billion can be attributed to Apple, which purchased $5 billion in the fourth quarter, down from $17 billion in the third quarter.

For the year, Apple led the Index with a record setting $45 billion in purchases, up 73.5% from its $25.9 billion 2013 purchases.  Exxon Mobile came in a distant second, at $13.2 billion, down 17.6% from its 2013 $16 billion expenditure, with Intel coming in third, spending $10.8 billion, significantly up from its 2013 $2.1 billion expenditure.

For more information, please visit www.spdji.com

 

S&P 500, $ U.S. BILLIONS, preliminary values in bold

           

PERIOD

MARKET

OPERATING

AS REPORTED

       

DIVIDEND &

DIVIDENDS

 

VALUE

EARNINGS

EARNINGS

DIVIDENDS

BUYBACKS

DIVIDEND 

BUYBACK 

BUYBACK 

& BUYBACKS

 

$ BILLIONS

$ BILLIONS

$ BILLIONS

$ BILLIONS

$ BILLIONS

YIELD

YIELD

YIELD

$ BILLION

                   

12/30/2014

$18,245

$262.30

$243.43

$92.80

$132.63

1.92%

3.03%

4.95%

$225.43

9/30/2014

$17,519

$262.92

$244.00

$89.02

$145.19

1.96%

3.14%

5.10%

$234.22

6/30/2014

$17,404

$260.50

$240.96

$86.65

$116.17

1.91%

3.06%

4.98%

$202.82

3/31/2014

$16,700

$243.67

$221.82

$81.96

$159.28

1.93%

3.20%

5.14%

$241.24

12/31/2013

$16,495

$252.10

$236.31

$84.98

$129.41

1.89%

2.88%

4.77%

$214.40

9/30/2013

$14,960

$239.50

$219.13

$79.26

$128.16

2.05%

2.98%

5.03%

$207.42

6/30/2013

$14,310

$234.84

$221.56

$76.67

$118.05

2.07%

2.94%

5.02%

$194.72

3/31/2013

$13,979

$229.57

$215.76

$70.86

$99.97

2.06%

2.97%

5.02%

$170.82

12/31/2012

$12,742

$206.84

$184.50

$79.83

$99.15

2.20%

3.13%

5.33%

$178.98

9/30/2012

$12,881

$214.58

$189.64

$69.48

$103.72

2.07%

3.01%

5.08%

$173.20

6/30/2012

$12,303

$229.69

$195.27

$67.31

$111.75

2.08%

3.27%

5.35%

$179.05

3/31/2012

$12,730

$219.09

$208.15

$64.07

$84.29

1.95%

3.14%

5.09%

$148.37

12/31/2011

$11,385

$214.83

$186.85

$65.89

$87.59

2.11%

3.56%

5.67%

$153.47

09/30/2011

$10,303

$230.30

$206.08

$59.20

$118.41

2.22%

3.92%

6.14%

$177.61

6/30/2011

$12,021

$226.29

$202.44

$59.03

$109.24

1.84%

3.04%

4.88%

$168.27

3/31/2011

$12,068

$205.34

$195.15

$56.08

$89.84

1.76%

2.76%

4.52%

$145.91

12/31/2010

$11,430

$199.40

$187.67

$54.85

$86.36

1.80%

2.61%

4.42%

$141.21

09/30/2010

$10,336

$195.28

$176.80

$51.26

$79.56

1.94%

2.52%

4.45%

$130.81

06/30/2010 

$9,323

$189.04

$178.00

$50.44

$77.64

2.10%

2.31%

4.41%

$128.08

03/31/2010

$10,560

$175.00

$157.85

$49.28

$55.26

1.83%

1.54%

3.36%

$104.54

12/31/2009

$9,928

$152.77

$135.14

$49.04

$47.82

1.97%

1.39%

3.36%

$96.86

09/30/2009

$9,337

$139.37

$130.37

$47.21

$34.85

2.24%

1.48%

3.71%

$82.06

06/30/2009

$8,045

$120.85

$118.22

$47.63

$24.20

2.77%

2.40%

5.17%

$71.83

03/31/2009 

$6,928

$87.78

$65.29

$51.73

$30.78

3.43%

3.70%

7.13%

$82.51

12/31/2008

$7,852

-$0.78

-$202.11

$62.19

$48.12

3.15%

4.33%

7.48%

$110.31

Source: S&P Dow Jones Indices

               

 

S&P 500 SECTOR BUYBACKS

                 

SECTOR $ MILLIONS

Q4,'14

Q3,'14

Q4,'13

2014

2013

5-YEARS

2007 YR

Q2,'09

Q3,'07

             

(high)

(low)

(high)

Consumer Discretionary

$22,841

$21,327

$18,080

$81,747

$70,226

$333,805

$80,435

$2,350

$34,902

Consumer Staples

$11,817

$9,970

$11,309

$42,347

$42,822

$233,872

$51,589

$4,013

$16,088

Energy

$10,311

$8,810

$12,236

$40,928

$40,950

$183,777

$67,031

$5,343

$14,717

Financials

$19,371

$20,441

$16,077

$75,404

$58,547

$254,629

$107,328

$1,170

$27,762

Healthcare

$15,104

$13,930

$14,525

$60,069

$61,959

$296,227

$63,775

$4,699

$18,660

Industrials

$15,535

$16,498

$16,230

$66,718

$53,735

$214,618

$54,806

$1,681

$17,521

Information Technology

$32,046

$42,906

$34,528

$154,703

$121,448

$518,192

$121,974

$4,757

$23,904

Materials

$5,007

$10,866

$3,899

$28,179

$10,306

$56,320

$13,586

$159

$6,503

Telecommunication Services

$92

$286

$2,228

$2,267

$14,866

$30,991

$17,627

$13

$3,947

Utilities

$511

$158

$300

$913

$728

$9,239

$10,963

$10

$7,943

TOTAL

$132,634

$145,193

$129,411

$553,275

$475,587

$2,131,670

$589,113

$24,195

$171,947

                   

SECTOR BUYBACK MAKEUP %

Q4,'14

Q3,'14

Q4,'13

2014

2013

5-YEARS

2007 YR

Q2,'09

Q3,'09

Consumer Discretionary

17.22%

14.69%

13.97%

14.78%

14.77%

15.66%

13.65%

9.71%

20.30%

Consumer Staples

8.91%

6.87%

8.74%

7.65%

9.00%

10.97%

8.76%

16.59%

9.36%

Energy

7.77%

6.07%

9.45%

7.40%

8.61%

8.62%

11.38%

22.08%

8.56%

Financials

14.60%

14.08%

12.42%

13.63%

12.31%

11.95%

18.22%

4.84%

16.15%

Healthcare

11.39%

9.59%

11.22%

10.86%

13.03%

13.90%

10.83%

19.42%

10.85%

Industrials

11.71%

11.36%

12.54%

12.06%

11.30%

10.07%

9.30%

6.95%

10.19%

Information Technology

24.16%

29.55%

26.68%

27.96%

25.54%

24.31%

20.70%

19.66%

13.90%

Materials

3.78%

7.48%

3.01%

5.09%

2.17%

2.64%

2.31%

0.66%

3.78%

Telecommunication Services

0.07%

0.20%

1.72%

0.41%

3.13%

1.45%

2.99%

0.05%

2.30%

Utilities

0.39%

0.11%

0.23%

0.16%

0.15%

0.43%

1.86%

0.04%

4.62%

TOTAL

100.00%

100.00%

100.00%

100.00%

100.00%

100.00%

100.00%

100.00%

100.00%

Source: S&P Dow Jones Indices

                 

 

Largest S&P 500 2014 buybacks:

         

Company

Sector

2014

2013

5-YEAR

10-YEAR

   

Buybacks

Buybacks

Buybacks

Buybacks

   

$ Million

$ Million

$ Million

$ Million

Apple

Information Technology

$45,001

$25,939

$72,890

$73,245

Exxon Mobil 

Energy

$13,183

$15,998

$85,397

$220,435

Intel

Information Technology

$10,792

$2,147

$34,125

$61,100

International Business Machines 

Information Technology

$9,998

$10,307

$62,721

$114,146

Wells Fargo

Financials

$9,414

$5,356

$21,195

$35,580

Oracle 

Information Technology

$8,099

$10,750

$32,433

$45,176

Microsoft 

Information Technology

$8,048

$6,371

$40,155

$120,963

Merck

Healthcare

$7,703

$6,516

$20,324

$26,496

Johnson & Johnson

Healthcare

$7,124

$3,538

$27,618

$49,487

The Home Depot

Consumer Discretionary

$7,000

$8,546

$25,608

$46,315

Monsanto

Materials

$6,817

$1,629

$9,123

$10,342

Cisco Systems

Information Technology

$6,419

$8,235

$31,787

$69,588

Procter & Gamble 

Consumer Staples

$6,254

$5,005

$30,378

$74,010

Walt Disney 

Consumer Discretionary

$6,112

$4,761

$22,569

$40,539

Boeing

Industrials

$6,001

$1,801

$7,802

$16,218

3M

Industrials

$5,652

$5,212

$16,623

$26,238

Goldman Sachs Group

Financials

$5,469

$6,175

$26,515

$52,432

Gilead Sciences

Healthcare

$5,349

$582

$13,004

$17,004

Top 20   

 

$174,435

$128,868

$580,267

$1,099,315

S&P 500

 

$553,275

$475,587

$2,131,670

$3,979,128

Top 20 % of S&P 500

 

31.53%

27.10%

27.22%

27.63%

Source: S&P Dow Jones Indices

         

 

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SOURCE S&P Dow Jones Indices