NEW YORK, May 6, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- S&P Dow Jones Indices announced today the launch of the S&P 500^® Buyback Index which is designed to measure the performance of the top 100 stocks with the highest buyback ratio in the S&P 500.  

"Buybacks can be seen as an important indicator of corporate health," says Vinit Srivastava, Senior Director of Strategy Indices at S&P Dow Jones Indices. "Much like dividends, corporate buybacks is another method that companies use to return value back to shareholders. In 2012, S&P 500 companies bought back $399 billion worth of stock, and continue to hold record amounts of cash."

The S&P 500 Buyback Index measures the 100 constituent companies in the S&P 500 with the highest buyback ratio in the last 12 months. The buyback ratio is defined as the ratio of the total cash put towards buybacks in the trailing year and the market capitalization of the company as of a reference date. Constituents are equally weighted and the index is rebalanced quarterly.

For more information, please visit www.spindices.com.

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S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC, a subsidiary of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., is the world's largest, global resource for index-based concepts, data and research. Home to iconic financial market indicators, such as the S&P 500^® and the Dow Jones Industrial Average^SM, S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC has over 115 years of experience constructing innovative and transparent solutions that fulfill the needs of institutional and retail investors. More assets are invested in products based upon our indices than any other provider in the world. With over 830,000 indices covering a wide range of asset classes across the globe, S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC defines the way investors measure and trade the markets. To learn more about our company, please visit www.spdji.com.

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SOURCE S&P Dow Jones Indices