S&P DJI: S&P 500 Q2 Buybacks Decline 8.7% Over Q1 2015, Up 13.2% Year-Over-Year

Companies Set 12-Month Record for Returns to Shareholders

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Sep 24, 2015, 09:30 ET

NEW YORK, Sept. 24, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- S&P Dow Jones Indices ("S&P DJI") announced today that preliminary results show that S&P 500^® Q2 2015 stock buybacks, or share repurchases, decreased 8.7% to $131.6 billion, down from the $144.9 billion posted in Q1 2015. Year-over-year comparison shows that share repurchases have increased 13.2% over the $116.2 billion reported during the second quarter of 2014.

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 $131.6 billion Q2 spend represents an 8.7% decrease from the $144.1 billion spent during Q1 2015, and a 13.2% increase over the expenditure of Q2 2014.
For the 1-year period ending June 2015, S&P 500 issues increased their buyback expenditures by 3.8% to $553.5 billion from $533.0 billion posted in the prior 12-month period.
For the sixth 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 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, set a 12-month record, at $923.3 billion.

"Companies continue to use buybacks to add to their EPS at a time when EPS growth has become the center of attention for investors," says Howard Silverblatt, Senior Index Analyst at S&P Dow Jones Indices. "The current share count status is that for each of the past six quarters, over 20% of the index membership has used share count reduction to significantly increase EPS by at least 4% in their year-over-year comparisons."

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

More issues reduced their share count this quarter than last, with 307 doing so in Q2, up from 299 in Q1, and 295 in Q2 2014.
Significant changes (generally considered 1% or greater for the quarter) remained strong, but did not materially change for the second consecutive quarter, as 115 issues reduced their share count by at least 1%, compared to last quarter's 116, and the 126 in Q2 2014.
Share count reduction change impacts of at least 4% (Q2 2015 over Q2 2014), which can be seen in EPS comparisons, were a tick up at 105 in Q2 from 104 in Q1 and down from the 116 posted in Q2 2014.

Total Shareholder Returns:

Silverblatt notes that total shareholders' returns, through regular cash dividends, as well as buybacks, decreased to $226.0 billion or 4.9% over the $237.7 billion of Q1 2015, but was still 11.4% higher than the $202.8 billion reported in Q2 2014. For the trailing 12-month period, companies returned $923.34 billion in buybacks and dividends to investors, up from $900.2 billion in Q1, and setting a new 12-month record.

Silverblatt stated that cash reserves bulked up during the second quarter as S&P 500 Industrial (Old) available cash and equivalent increased to $1.32 trillion, from the first quarter's $1.23 trillion, and was just a tick under the record $1.33 trillion set at the end of 2014.

"Higher levels of shareholder return are now part of the market expectation, with many investors anticipating continued high payouts," comments Silverblatt. "While companies currently have the resources and low-cost access to funds to continue this trend, once interest rates increase, the higher costs will eventually influence the decision making process for corporate expenditures. Buybacks may be more susceptible to an interest rate hike, given that they are more discretionary and dividend cutbacks are typically seen as a last resort action. Based on the current data, the Q3 actual dividend payment is expected to be the sixth consecutive quarter of new record payments, with Q4 2015 expected to be the seventh."

Sectors:

On a sector basis, Information Technology continued to dominate buybacks as their percentage of the Q2 buybacks increased to 27.9% from 24.3% in Q1. Energy was again noticeably lower, declining to 2.7% of buybacks ($3.5 billion) from 3.8% ($5.5 billion) the first quarter and 7.5% ($8.7 billion) in the second quarter of last year, as lower share prices and more prudent spending have impacted the sector. Consumer Staples posted a 28.8% drop, as Consumer Discretionary posted a 17.4% increase over their first quarter expenditure.

For the quarter Apple (AAPL) continued to lead with $10.0 billion spent on share repurchases, up 43.5% from their $7.0 billion Q1 expenditure – the eighth largest posted by an index issue in buybacks history (Apple also owns the first, second and third positions). Express Scripts (ESRX) came in second with $5.5 billion, after buying back zero shares in the first quarter, followed by QUALCOMM (QCOM) with $5.4 billion, up from $1.9 billion. AbbVie (ABBV), and Microsoft (MSFT), rounded out the top-five buyback spenders. Exxon Mobile (XOM) ranked 28^th, with $1.0 billion, compared to $3.0 billion in the Q2 2014, when it ranked third.

For more information, please visit www.spdji.com

S&P Dow Jones Indices
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

6/30/2015 Prelim.	$18,219	$230.84	$201.35	$94.45	$131.56	2.03%	3.04%	5.07%	$226.01
3/31/2015	$18,303	$228.45	$193.05	$93.55	$144.13	1.98%	2.94%	4.92%	$237.69
12/30/2014	$18,245	$237.14	$202.31	$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

S&P Dow Jones Indices
S&P 500 Sector Buybacks
Sector $ Millions	Q2,'15	Q1,'15	Q2,'14	12 MO 6/15	12 MO 6/14	5-YEARS	2007 YR	Q2,'09	Q3,'07
							(high)	(low)	(high)
Consumer Discretionary	$22,568	$19,230	$18,969	$85,966	$78,621	$356,590	$80,435	$2,350	$34,902
Consumer Staples	$7,739	$10,873	$8,529	$40,399	$42,903	$227,317	$51,589	$4,013	$16,088
Energy	$3,547	$5,538	$8,716	$28,205	$46,024	$186,749	$67,031	$5,343	$14,717
Financials	$21,276	$22,526	$17,330	$83,614	$67,417	$288,701	$107,328	$1,170	$27,762
Healthcare	$18,131	$20,897	$15,221	$68,063	$61,349	$311,131	$63,775	$4,699	$18,660
Industrials	$17,172	$20,124	$12,662	$69,328	$65,088	$243,131	$54,806	$1,681	$17,521
Information Technology	$36,674	$34,976	$30,569	$146,602	$146,394	$552,475	$121,974	$4,757	$23,904
Materials	$2,395	$4,397	$3,772	$22,666	$18,114	$61,494	$13,586	$159	$6,503
Telecommunication Services	$166	$5,185	$324	$5,729	$6,419	$36,127	$17,627	$13	$3,947
Utilities	$1,894	$386	$79	$2,949	$689	$10,750	$10,963	$10	$7,943
S&P 500	$131,562	$144,133	$116,171	$553,522	$533,017	$2,274,465	$589,113	$24,195	$171,947

S&P Dow Jones Indices
S&P 500 20 LARGEST Q2 2015 BUYBACKS, $ MILLIONS
Company	Ticker	Sector	Q2,'15	12-Month	5-YEAR	10-YEAR	Indicated
			Buybacks	Buybacks	Buybacks	Buybacks	Dividend
			$ Million	$ Million	$ Million	$ Million	$ Million
Apple	AAPL	Information Technology	$10,000	$39,000	$89,860	$90,215	$11,983
Express Scripts Holding	ESRX	Healthcare	$5,500	$7,333	$17,311	$20,602	$0
QUALCOMM	QCOM	Information Technology	$5,405	$10,211	$19,380	$25,495	$3,129
AbbVie	ABBV	Healthcare	$5,002	$5,644	$6,319	$6,319	$3,508
Microsoft	MSFT	Information Technology	$4,279	$14,443	$43,703	$123,640	$11,649
American International Group	AIG	Financials	$2,345	$6,796	$22,312	$29,354	$1,493
Oracle C	ORCL	Information Technology	$2,008	$8,087	$35,937	$48,928	$2,620
Boeing	BA	Industrials	$2,001	$6,504	$12,303	$20,224	$2,517
Wells Fargo	WFC	Financials	$1,994	$10,021	$25,713	$38,793	$7,724
Home Depot	HD	Consumer Discretionary	$1,960	$6,585	$27,484	$47,445	$3,066
General Motors	GM	Consumer Discretionary	$1,699	$5,276	$14,274	$14,274	$2,314
3M	MMM	Industrials	$1,695	$5,099	$18,811	$27,634	$2,601
Comcast	CMCSA	Consumer Discretionary	$1,585	$6,336	$15,577	$26,213	$2,514
Citigroup	C	Financials	$1,557	$2,843	$5,815	$24,650	$607
McDonald's	MCD	Consumer Discretionary	$1,555	$4,217	$14,457	$28,709	$3,259
Lowe's	LOW	Consumer Discretionary	$1,520	$4,483	$19,177	$25,191	$1,045
Duke Energy	DUK	Utilities	$1,500	$1,500	$1,500	$2,024	$2,282
JPMorgan	JPM	Financials	$1,249	$6,148	$26,078	$37,885	$6,532
American Express	AXP	Financials	$1,180	$4,269	$16,435	$23,759	$1,178
Twenty-First Century Fox	FOXA	Consumer Discretionary	$1,155	$5,939	$15,031	$18,437	$617
Top 20			$55,189	$160,735	$447,477	$679,791	$70,637
S&P 500			$131,562	$553,522	$2,274,465	$4,091,347	$405,546
Top 20 % of S&P 500			41.95%	29.04%	19.67%	16.62%	17.42%
Gross values are not adjusted for float

S&P Dow Jones Indices
S&P 500 Sector Yields

SECTOR	DIVIDEND	BUYBACK	COMBINED
	YIELD	YIELD	YIELD
Consumer Discretionary	1.54%	3.54%	5.07%
Consumer Staples	2.82%	2.03%	4.85%
Energy	3.68%	2.25%	5.94%
Financials	2.09%	2.79%	4.88%
HealthCare	1.62%	2.51%	4.13%
Industrials	2.42%	3.90%	6.32%
Information Technology	1.65%	3.94%	5.59%
Materials	2.37%	4.42%	6.78%
Telecommunication Services	5.37%	1.37%	6.74%
Utilities	3.95%	0.54%	4.50%
S&P 500	2.21%	3.03%	5.24%
Uses full values (unadjusted for float)
Dividends based on indicated; buybacks based on the last 12-months ending Q2,'15

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