LowIQinvestor Posted June 10, 2013 Posted June 10, 2013 Anybody have an efficient way to generate a comprehensive list of companies who consistently buyback their shares and therefore significantly reduce the float over time? Was thinking about what Munger said ---over the weekend: 1. Carefully watch what other investors are doing 2. “Look at the cannibals” – look at businesses buying back huge amounts of stock 3. Carefully study spin-offs I know some of the large to mega-cap companies that do this well, but was looking to find some off the beaten path. Any help is greatly appreciated! Thanks
giofranchi Posted June 10, 2013 Posted June 10, 2013 Liberty Media? Since the reclassification of the original Liberty Capital tracking stock on March 4, 2008 through April 30, 2013, 59.6 million shares have been repurchased at an average cost per share of $34.01 for total cash consideration of $2.0 billion. These repurchases represent 46.1% of the shares outstanding at the time of the introduction of the original Liberty Capital stock. giofranchi
obtuse_investor Posted June 10, 2013 Posted June 10, 2013 I am interested in this too--- specifically a list that excludes cannibals that buy back irrespective of price.
jeffmori7 Posted June 10, 2013 Posted June 10, 2013 There are already topics about this on the board. See : http://www.cornerofberkshireandfairfax.ca/forum/general-discussion/share-repurchase-topic/msg110154/#msg110154
Guest wellmont Posted June 10, 2013 Posted June 10, 2013 just page through value line and focus on yearly trend of shares outstanding. s & p used to publish books annually with lists of companies where you could easily track shares outstanding.
crastogi Posted June 10, 2013 Posted June 10, 2013 You could also look at dataroma.com and insidercow.com to get an idea of insiders buying stock and see if it leads you to some interesting candidates
gfp Posted June 10, 2013 Posted June 10, 2013 I second the John Malone entities. They usually check the spin-off and cannibal boxes. DirecTV is a prime example that is ongoing and well publicized. Gap Inc had a doosy of the buy-in a couple years ago that worked very well for them. I sold the stock so I don't know it it is still active. Prices changed on that one. BP has repurchased over 1.5 Billion dollars worth of their shares since the end of the last quarter and is Klarman's largest equity holding, fwiw... L also prominently features it's share retirement over time in its annual reports. IBM is a well known share repurchaser as well, as highlighted in Berkshire's annual report. Serial capital returners like RLI can be pretty enjoyable to own and forget about as well...
no_free_lunch Posted June 11, 2013 Posted June 11, 2013 I have been working on this a bit and don't mind sharing some results. Just keep in mind that my data-source is not the best and so some of these are not really cannibals but just data errors. Nevertheless it should be less work to go through this than the entire stock universe. These are all the stocks I could find which have reduced share count by 30% or more from 2006 to 2012. SYMBOL, SHARE REDUCTION 'aap', -30.346465072655004 'abc', -40.05856873715785 'acat', -32.78435631183613 'acgl', -39.93088525644429 'ads', -37.72755607298557 'aet', -36.5116241192287 'aiz', -35.85059902983259 'am', -38.93951758262922 'amgn', -35.35897433546168 'an', -41.5429263703194 'ann', -32.01821008664114 'apol', -35.13263652199344 'aro', -33.53342664581492 'asa', -33.02083148739591 'asca', -41.790513454678134 'azo', -47.903769482304135 'bbsi', -37.600003344482715 'bcsb', -46.023685850231345 'biib', -30.041102124577712 'cake', -30.64822889681782 'cb', -36.35479661371769 'cce', -41.20369228475263 'cec', -44.57532615343115 'cec', -43.73837723309554 'cec', -46.81736991401472 'cec', -46.014277324705255 'ceco', -30.244412355332628 'cent', -31.515915041125155 'cht', -45.37041895266577 'chtr', -75.203410132527 'cmt', -30.098043610912796 'cprt', -31.23445032597373 'cpwr', -42.44244579352724 'crtx', -37.780401754290594 'czr', -32.63496797831307 'dds', -37.646615468866926 'dnb', -31.281200468283245 'dst', -32.72449301170558 'dtv', -52.28943375394506 'eat', -40.67513281546914 'esi', -43.1773858174457 'fonr', -55.61837613281568 'fstc', -42.69113555655386 'gps', -43.40657116550908 'grr', -39.388797043548976 'gsol', -33.39198632181234 'iaci', -42.45321633856024 'jctcf', -34.03361389752438 'lbtya', -35.50966359470029 'lea', -37.088525207194536 'lxk', -34.123711894505924 'mrh', -50.55466098526027 'mx', -32.39756847075912 'noc', -30.84817382804339 'pgi', -31.931578076452404 'prls', -78.9224394144082 'ptp', -45.165076493624746 'pze', -52.65120183226871 'qlgc', -39.058549822590784 'qlti', -31.387153629504894 'rnr', -36.87274637755027 'sfi', -33.80738144911996 'shld', -33.56250077998267 'sonc', -32.17126469251842 'stmp', -30.95989344897906 'stx', -31.238824453023017 'swy', -45.58055138831687 'symc', -30.384615031925165 'tmk', -35.965221985474074 'ty', -39.09977438118547 'wlp', -50.49227822035534 'wtm', -41.65120725927062 'wtw', -42.820509469955745 'zlc', -33.05630629828733 'ustr', -32.90064832696405 'vc', -59.68991952563941 'vrsn', -37.09399238869885 'fico', -41.31716526804615 'awh', -42.27898537157808 'big', -44.16747005805737 'eihi', -30.308370333232947 'eig', -41.635051986243276 'ipcc', -40.876655577820166 'jack', -31.921166517708997 'ntls', -51.36124372023113 'pgla', -39.379156001199036 'roiak', -49.225003004083746 'sapx', -33.997343957503325 'hckt', -30.452301643089985
LC Posted June 11, 2013 Posted June 11, 2013 I have been working on this a bit and don't mind sharing some results. Just keep in mind that my data-source is not the best and so some of these are not really cannibals but just data errors. Nevertheless it should be less work to go through this than the entire stock universe. These are all the stocks I could find which have reduced share count by 30% or more from 2006 to 2012. SYMBOL, SHARE REDUCTION 'aap', -30.346465072655004 'abc', -40.05856873715785 'acat', -32.78435631183613 'acgl', -39.93088525644429 'ads', -37.72755607298557 'aet', -36.5116241192287 'aiz', -35.85059902983259 'am', -38.93951758262922 'amgn', -35.35897433546168 'an', -41.5429263703194 'ann', -32.01821008664114 'apol', -35.13263652199344 'aro', -33.53342664581492 'asa', -33.02083148739591 'asca', -41.790513454678134 'azo', -47.903769482304135 'bbsi', -37.600003344482715 'bcsb', -46.023685850231345 'biib', -30.041102124577712 'cake', -30.64822889681782 'cb', -36.35479661371769 'cce', -41.20369228475263 'cec', -44.57532615343115 'cec', -43.73837723309554 'cec', -46.81736991401472 'cec', -46.014277324705255 'ceco', -30.244412355332628 'cent', -31.515915041125155 'cht', -45.37041895266577 'chtr', -75.203410132527 'cmt', -30.098043610912796 'cprt', -31.23445032597373 'cpwr', -42.44244579352724 'crtx', -37.780401754290594 'czr', -32.63496797831307 'dds', -37.646615468866926 'dnb', -31.281200468283245 'dst', -32.72449301170558 'dtv', -52.28943375394506 'eat', -40.67513281546914 'esi', -43.1773858174457 'fonr', -55.61837613281568 'fstc', -42.69113555655386 'gps', -43.40657116550908 'grr', -39.388797043548976 'gsol', -33.39198632181234 'iaci', -42.45321633856024 'jctcf', -34.03361389752438 'lbtya', -35.50966359470029 'lea', -37.088525207194536 'lxk', -34.123711894505924 'mrh', -50.55466098526027 'mx', -32.39756847075912 'noc', -30.84817382804339 'pgi', -31.931578076452404 'prls', -78.9224394144082 'ptp', -45.165076493624746 'pze', -52.65120183226871 'qlgc', -39.058549822590784 'qlti', -31.387153629504894 'rnr', -36.87274637755027 'sfi', -33.80738144911996 'shld', -33.56250077998267 'sonc', -32.17126469251842 'stmp', -30.95989344897906 'stx', -31.238824453023017 'swy', -45.58055138831687 'symc', -30.384615031925165 'tmk', -35.965221985474074 'ty', -39.09977438118547 'wlp', -50.49227822035534 'wtm', -41.65120725927062 'wtw', -42.820509469955745 'zlc', -33.05630629828733 'ustr', -32.90064832696405 'vc', -59.68991952563941 'vrsn', -37.09399238869885 'fico', -41.31716526804615 'awh', -42.27898537157808 'big', -44.16747005805737 'eihi', -30.308370333232947 'eig', -41.635051986243276 'ipcc', -40.876655577820166 'jack', -31.921166517708997 'ntls', -51.36124372023113 'pgla', -39.379156001199036 'roiak', -49.225003004083746 'sapx', -33.997343957503325 'hckt', -30.452301643089985 Wow, great work! Thanks for sharing. If I may ask (and I would never ask that you divulge your secret sauce), where did you get the data to automate this process? The reason I ask is that I had been thinking of doing the same for quite some time, but I couldn't figure out where to get the share count data.
Phaceliacapital Posted June 11, 2013 Posted June 11, 2013 I typically compile it using the "decrease in capital stock" - "increase in capital stock" items in bloomberg to see if the total change in capital stock was negative (good) or positive ("bad"). I have done this with parameters over the last 4, 8 and 12 quarters but I feel that there is still some finetuning left, as it currently does not account for the price at which it bought shares back.. Anyone interested in finetuning? In BB you can input almost everything I guess, of course the list would be made available here.
racemize Posted June 11, 2013 Posted June 11, 2013 thanks very much nofreelunch, this is very interesting.
John Galt Posted June 11, 2013 Posted June 11, 2013 Is there a way to do this for companies that opportunistically bought back shares in say 2009 when everyone's stock was dirt cheap? Steady is good, but I've tried and failed to screen for cannibals that had dry powder and knew what to do with it when it mattered. Plenty of companies were buying at the peak in 2008 then stopped to conserve capital during the depth of the recession, I think we are all looking for the company that did the opposite possibly even issuing shares before, only to buyback when they were cheap. Also, this is my first post, but this board is the very best, I looked long and hard on the internet for a message board for investing that was logical, respectful, and full of well thought out useful ideas. Nothing else has even come close.
no_free_lunch Posted June 12, 2013 Posted June 12, 2013 John, The screen you are asking for is a bit trickier to do but definitely worthwhile. One I found manually is ADS. They bought back a bunch of stock in 08/09 when they were cheap and have since basically stopped buying back shares. They have also grown their EPS by about 8x over the past decade. Very interesting company albeit not particularly cheap right now.
Guest hellsten Posted June 13, 2013 Posted June 13, 2013 Weight Watchers International, Inc. WTW: http://financials.morningstar.com/ratios/r.html?t=WTW®ion=USA&culture=en-us Share count has gone from 110 to 56 million in 10 years. WTW seems like a very high-quality business based on historic net margin and ROA figures. Dun & Bradstreet Corporation DNB: http://financials.morningstar.com/ratios/r.html?t=DNB®ion=USA&culture=en-us Share count has gone from 76 to 44 million in 10 years. High-quality company…
Phaceliacapital Posted June 13, 2013 Posted June 13, 2013 Yeah, but DnB is definitely too expensive.. also, the government has, and is, looking for a viable alternative ssolution. My 2 cents is that the company (unfortunately) has already been milked :) Wwt i agree
Guest hellsten Posted June 13, 2013 Posted June 13, 2013 WTW was featured in today's newsletter from Tilson & Co: http://valueinvestingletter.com/pdfs/Boyars-Intrinsic-Research-Report-Weight-Watchers.pdf WTW's buybacks where very ill-timed and financed with debt ::)
Phaceliacapital Posted June 17, 2013 Posted June 17, 2013 Guys (girls), as promised please find a list of 741 companies generated with the following formulas: BB1: Total decrease in Cap Stock/MCAP BB2: Total decrease in Cap Stock/MCAP in Y1 BB3: Total decrease in Cap Stock/MCAP in Y2 So BB1 is for the past year, BB2 for a the year before and BB3 for the year before. The companies included have each of these three measures < 0 (which means buyback in bloomberg language). For your comfort I have provided the prices of the stock per year and included a rough FCF/EV metric (as calculated by BB analysts). The red lines are clearly erronous formulas of some kind but I let them in anyway. Should you notice any mistake or come up with a better metric, please let me know, I think there is still some finetuning to do :) Happy investing BB.xlsx
boilermaker75 Posted June 17, 2013 Posted June 17, 2013 Guys (girls), as promised please find a list of 741 companies generated with the following formulas: BB1: Total decrease in Cap Stock/MCAP BB2: Total decrease in Cap Stock/MCAP in Y1 BB3: Total decrease in Cap Stock/MCAP in Y2 So BB1 is for the past year, BB2 for a the year before and BB3 for the year before. The companies included have each of these three measures < 0 (which means buyback in bloomberg language). For your comfort I have provided the prices of the stock per year and included a rough FCF/EV metric (as calculated by BB analysts). The red lines are clearly erronous formulas of some kind but I let them in anyway. Should you notice any mistake or come up with a better metric, please let me know, I think there is still some finetuning to do :) Happy investing Wow, thank you very much!
NormR Posted June 17, 2013 Posted June 17, 2013 The companies included have each of these three measures < 0 (which means buyback in bloomberg language). Just wondering, why didn't you look for negative growth in shares outstanding?
Palantir Posted June 17, 2013 Posted June 17, 2013 Safeway is high....tasty - seems to be a boilermaker75 style of stock - heavy fcf and buybacks.
Yours Truly Posted June 17, 2013 Posted June 17, 2013 compounding cannibals that have strong ROE, EPS growth and good 10, 5 years records of reducing shares: MCO AZO LO PM ADS IBM DTV COH TJX ROST WAT MCD AAP DLTR FDO FOSL PETM ABC WMT FISV ORLY ACGL YUM JBHT MTD INTU GWW
Phaceliacapital Posted June 18, 2013 Posted June 18, 2013 Just wondering, why didn't you look for negative growth in shares outstanding? That function didn't work properly, or at least not as I wanted it to work
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