NEW YORK, March 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- S&P Dow Jones Indices ("S&P DJI") announced today that preliminary results show that S&P 500^® Q4 2015 stock buybacks, or share repurchases, decreased 3.1% to $145.9 billion, down from the $150.6 billion posted in Q3 2015. Year-over-year comparison shows that share repurchases have increased 10.0% over the $132.6 billion reported during the fourth quarter of 2014.

For the year 2015, S&P 500 issues spent $572.2 billion on buybacks, up 3.4% from the $553.3 billion spent in 2014. Excluding the 62.7% decrease in energy's expenditures, S&P 500 issues spent 8.7% more.

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 $145.9 billion Q4 2015 spend represents a 3.1% increase from the $150.6 billion spent during Q3 2015, and a 10.0% increase over the expenditure of Q4 2014.
• For full year 2015 S&P 500 issues increased their buyback expenditures by 3.4% to $572.2 billion from $553.3 billion posted for 2014.
• Energy sector issues reduced their 2015 buybacks by 62.7%, to $15.2 billion, from 2014's $40.9 billion; buybacks for the S&P 500 ex-energy were up 8.7% for 2015.
• For the eighth consecutive quarter, over 20% of the S&P 500 issues reduced their year-over-year diluted share count by at least 4%, therefore boosting their earnings-per-share (EPS) by at least 4%.  The participation rate of over 20% for the prior seven quarters (20%-23%) increased to over 24% in the fourth quarter of 2015.
• The buyback high mark quarter was reached in Q3 2007, when companies spent $172.0 billion.
• The recession quarterly buyback low point was $24.2 billion, recorded in Q2 2009. 
• Total shareholder return, dividends plus buybacks, for 2015 set a 12-month record, at $954.6 billion.

"The report of buybacks death was greatly exaggerated, as Mark Twain would have put it, as over 24% of the Index reported year-over-year share count decreases of at least 4%, therefore increasing their EPS by at least 4%," says Howard Silverblatt, Senior Index Analyst at S&P Dow Jones Indices. "Q4's high participation rate was the eight consecutive quarter of at least 20% participation, with the prior quarters within the 20%-23% range. So in a quarter when the buybacks were expected to decrease, their impact actually ticked up." 

Additionally, S&P Dow Jones Indices' data shows:

• Issues reducing their share count this quarter increased to 318, from the 306 in Q3 and 308 in Q4 2014.
• Significant changes (generally considered 1% or greater for the quarter) remained strong, and increased  for the fourth quarter, as 152 issues reduced their share count by at least 1%, compared to last quarter's 138, and the 117 in Q4 2014. 
• Year-over-year share count reduction change impacts of at least 4%, which can be seen in EPS comparisons, increased for the fourth consecutive quarter, as 120 reduced, up from the Q3's 113, and the 99 posted in Q4 2014.

Total Shareholder Returns:

Silverblatt notes that total shareholder return through regular cash dividends, as well as buybacks, decreased from last quarter's record of $245.7 billion to $245.3 billion, which was not considered significant given the energy impact. Dividends posted their seventh consecutive quarter of record payments. For 2015, companies returned a record $954.6 billion in buybacks and dividends to investors, surpassing the prior record (annual or 12-months) of $934.8 billion, set in Q3 2015.

Silverblatt calculated that cash reserves increased 1.6%, after last quarter's 1.4% decline, as S&P 500 Industrial (Old) available cash and equivalent now stand at $1.326 trillion, down a mere 0.5% from the record $1.333 trillion set at the end of 2014.  Silverblatt added that the current cash level is 86 weeks of expected 2016 operating income, giving corporations great leeway in their expenditures.

"Record levels of shareholder return are now part of equation, as dividend increases, be it at a slower rate, are built-in for non-commodity issues, and buybacks continue," comments Silverblatt. "Companies have the resources, including debt instruments to continue these expenditures, as interest rates remain low, with the market current view for limited action by the Fed this year."

Sectors:

On a sector basis, Information Technology continued to dominate buybacks as their percentage of the Q4 buybacks decreased to 24.3% from 28.7% in Q3. Energy continued to decline, as the sector's expenditure declined 27.7% from the prior quarter, as buybacks were added to the reduced capital expenditures and dividend list for the sector.

Consumer groups differed greatly, as Consumer Staples increased their expenditure to 65.9%, while Consumer Discretionary reduced theirs to 15.9%.

For the quarter Apple (AAPL) again led, with $6.9 billion spent on share repurchases, down 48.2% from their $13.3 billion Q3 expenditure (which was the fifth largest posted by an index issue). United Technology (UTX) came in second with $6.0 billion, after buying back $1.0 billion in shares in the third quarter, followed by Microsoft (MSFT) with $3.7 billion, down from $4.8 billion. Oracle (ORCL) and American International Group (AIG) rounded out the top-five buyback spenders.  Exxon Mobile (XOM) ranked 53rd, up from last quarter's 84^th, with $0.7 billion (up from $0.5 billion last quarter), paling in comparison to $3.3 billion in the Q4 2014, when it ranked third.

For more information, please visit www.spdji.com

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SOURCE S&P Dow Jones Indices