Buybacks and dividends against cash
Over their latest twelve months, 414 S&P 500 companies spent $809.0bn buying back shares and $585.2bn on dividends: 71.9% of the free cash flow they generated. 93 paid out more than their free cash flow.
Paying out more than they generate
Buybacks plus dividends above 100% of free cash flow, among companies returning at least $500m. Utilities often appear here by design: they fund large building programmes with debt while keeping dividends steady.
| Company | Sector | Buybacks | Dividends | Free cash flow | Paid out |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NRG NRG Energy | Utilities | $1.6bn | $0.4bn | $0.3bn | 597.1% |
| ES Eversource Energy | Utilities | $0.0bn | $1.1bn | $0.3bn | 380.4% |
| HON Honeywell Technologies | Industrials | $1.1bn | $2.6bn | $1.0bn | 380.4% |
| TDG TransDigm Group | Industrials | $1.8bn | $5.3bn | $1.9bn | 368.4% |
| FICO Fair Isaac | Technology | $3.6bn | $0.0bn | $1.0bn | 360.8% |
| CEG Constellation Energy | Utilities | $0.4bn | $0.6bn | $0.3bn | 307.8% |
| TSCO Tractor Supply | Consumer Discretionary | $0.4bn | $0.5bn | $0.3bn | 306.3% |
| CLX Clorox | Consumer Staples | $0.3bn | $0.6bn | $0.4bn | 245.5% |
| CRM Salesforce | Technology | $35.1bn | $1.5bn | $15.2bn | 241.4% |
| GPN Global Payments | Financials | $1.6bn | $0.3bn | $0.8bn | 225.1% |
| ROP Roper Technologies | Technology | $3.2bn | $0.4bn | $1.7bn | 216.7% |
| JCI Johnson Controls | Industrials | $5.9bn | $1.0bn | $3.2bn | 216.2% |
| XYL Xylem Inc. | Industrials | $1.6bn | $0.4bn | $0.9bn | 215.6% |
| IP International Paper | Materials | $0.0bn | $1.0bn | $0.5bn | 205.7% |
| CHRW C.H. Robinson | Industrials | $0.8bn | $0.3bn | $0.5bn | 203.5% |
| MMM 3M | Industrials | $3.8bn | $1.6bn | $2.7bn | 201.0% |
| ZTS Zoetis | Health Care | $3.6bn | $0.9bn | $2.3bn | 195.7% |
| KR Kroger | Consumer Staples | $3.8bn | $0.9bn | $2.4bn | 195.5% |
| RCL Royal Caribbean Group | Consumer Discretionary | $1.5bn | $1.3bn | $1.5bn | 191.1% |
| WDAY Workday, Inc. | Technology | $5.2bn | $0.0bn | $2.8bn | 183.9% |
| HLT Hilton Worldwide | Consumer Discretionary | $3.4bn | $0.1bn | $1.9bn | 183.8% |
| LEN Lennar | Consumer Discretionary | $1.0bn | $0.5bn | $0.8bn | 183.1% |
| VMC Vulcan Materials Company | Materials | $1.2bn | $0.3bn | $0.8bn | 181.4% |
| VRSK Verisk Analytics, Inc. | Industrials | $1.9bn | $0.3bn | $1.2bn | 174.0% |
| NVR NVR, Inc. | Consumer Discretionary | $1.8bn | $0.0bn | $1.0bn | 170.5% |
Biggest buyers of their own shares
| Company | Buybacks | Dividends | Free cash flow | Paid out |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AAPL Apple Inc. | $86.4bn | $15.7bn | $136.1bn | 75.1% |
| NVDA NVIDIA Corporation | $55.3bn | $6.7bn | $127.0bn | 48.9% |
| CRM Salesforce | $35.1bn | $1.5bn | $15.2bn | 241.4% |
| V Visa Inc. | $21.4bn | $5.0bn | $21.0bn | 125.4% |
| MSFT Microsoft Corporation | $21.0bn | $27.0bn | $60.0bn | 80.1% |
| XOM ExxonMobil | $20.5bn | $17.3bn | $43.0bn | 87.9% |
| MA Mastercard | $15.5bn | $3.0bn | $16.1bn | 114.7% |
| NFLX Netflix | $12.9bn | $0.0bn | $11.4bn | 113.1% |
| TMUS T-Mobile US | $12.0bn | $4.4bn | $18.7bn | 88.2% |
| CVX Chevron Corporation | $11.1bn | $13.9bn | $27.0bn | 92.6% |
| BKNG Booking Holdings | $10.5bn | $1.3bn | $9.5bn | 123.8% |
| T AT&T | $9.3bn | $7.9bn | $17.8bn | 96.8% |
| ADBE Adobe Inc. | $9.3bn | $0.0bn | $10.6bn | 87.8% |
| QCOM Qualcomm | $9.3bn | $3.8bn | $10.4bn | 125.5% |
| HCA HCA Healthcare | $9.2bn | $0.7bn | $6.0bn | 164.8% |
How it is built
Buybacks and dividends are cash paid in each company's latest twelve months, from its cash-flow statement. Free cash flow is operating cash flow minus capital spending. Banks and insurers are left out because their cash flows aren't comparable. Paying out more than free cash flow is funded from cash reserves or borrowing; it can be sustainable for a while, but not forever. See also our Buyback Monitor.
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General information and analysis of public filings, not investment advice or a personal recommendation. Past figures are not a guide to future results; prices can fall as well as rise. See our disclaimer.