Stock Buybacks by Sector
Supporting Image for Blog Post

 
View from the Observation Deck  
  1. S&P 500 Index stock buybacks totaled $175.89 billion (preliminary) in Q3'19, down 13.7% from the $203.76 billion spent on buybacks in Q3'18, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices.
  2. Howard Silverblatt, senior index analyst at S&P Dow Jones Indices, notes that consensus estimates have buybacks at a base level of $170 billion per quarter moving forward. 
  3. For the 12-month period ended September 2019, buybacks totaled $770.14 billion, up 6.9% from the $720.40 billion repurchased over the same period through September 2018.
  4. S&P Dow Jones Indices reported that S&P 500 Index companies spent $3.114 trillion on buybacks for the five-year period ended 9/30/19. 
  5. As indicated in the chart, Information Technology was the most active sector with respect to buyback activity over the past five years. Technology companies repurchased stock valued at $871.6 billion, or 28.0% of total buybacks for the S&P 500 Index. Financials and Consumer Discretionary followed with buybacks totaling $621.26 billion and $426.51 billion, respectively. 
  6. In addition to stock buybacks, S&P 500 companies are also rewarding shareholders through higher dividend distributions (not shown in chart). S&P 500 Index dividend payments totaled an all-time quarterly high of $123.12 billion in Q3'19, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices.  

This chart is for illustrative purposes only and not indicative of any actual investment. Investors cannot invest directly in an index. The S&P 500 Index is an unmanaged index of 500 stocks used to measure large-cap U.S. stock market performance. The 11 major S&P 500 Sector Indices are capitalization-weighted and comprised of S&P 500 constituents representing a specific sector. 

Download a PDF of this post, please click here.

The next blog post will resume on Thursday, January 2.
Posted on Thursday, December 19, 2019 @ 12:05 PM

These posts were prepared by First Trust Advisors L.P., and reflect the current opinion of the authors. They are based upon sources and data believed to be accurate and reliable. Opinions and forward looking statements expressed are subject to change without notice. This information does not constitute a solicitation or an offer to buy or sell any security.