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Re: Share Buybacks

Posted: 14 Feb 2013 22:32
by ig17

Re: Share Buybacks

Posted: 12 Apr 2013 22:19
by DenisD
Time for the spring refresh of my Canadian large-cap screen.

One of the inputs to the screen is the % of shares bought back over the previous year. I thought some of you would be interested in who's buying back shares.

The table below shows the % reduction in shares outstanding for the two previous six-month periods for the selected companies. A positive number means shares have been bought back. I copied the shares outstanding from the Mar13 and Sep12 issues of TSX eReview magazine.

If companies have multiple share classes, I either added the numbers together or weighted the classes by the trading price. Some classes appear to be unlisted. In that case, I either copied the additional number of shares from the quarterly report or just used the one class listed.

Code: Select all

Symbol    Name                           Mar/13  Sep/12
AGU.TO    Agrium                            5.4    -0.1
MRU.TO    Metro Inc.                        1.6     2.5
SC.TO     Shoppers Drug Mart                1.6     2.1
CNR.TO    Canadian National Railway         1.6     1.6
WJA.TO    WestJet Airlines                  1.3     2.4
CM.TO     CIBC                              1.3    -0.7
SU.TO     Suncor Energy                     1.2     1.3
PJC-A.TO  Jean Coutu Group                  1.1     1.0
QBR-B.TO  Quebecor Inc.                     1.1     0.8
IGM.TO    IGM Financial                     0.9     1.0
THI.TO    Tim Hortons                       0.8     1.7
OCX.TO    Onex Corporation                  0.8     0.2
TCK-B.TO  Teck Cominco Ltd.                 0.6     0.0
CTC-A.TO  Canadian Tire Corporation         0.4     0.0
WN.TO     George Weston                     0.4     0.0
SAP.TO    Saputo Inc.                       0.2     1.2
CNQ.TO    Canadian Natural Resources        0.2     0.5
ACO-X.TO  ATCO Ltd.                         0.1     0.3
MG.TO     Magna International               0.1    -0.1
ATD-B.TO  Alimentation Couche-Tard          0.1    -4.5
RCI-B.TO  Rogers Communications             0.0     1.8
BA.TO     Bell Aliant Inc.                  0.0     0.0
COS.TO    Canadian Oil Sands                0.0     0.0
EMP-A.TO  Empire Company                    0.0     0.0
ECA.TO    Encana Corporation                0.0     0.0
FFH.TO    Fairfax Financial Holdings        0.0     0.0
FM.TO     First Quantum Minerals            0.0     0.0
IMO.TO    Imperial Oil                      0.0     0.0
POW.TO    Power Corp of Canada              0.0     0.0
BBD-B.TO  Bombardier Inc.                   0.0    -0.1
CCO.TO    Cameco                            0.0    -0.1
FTT.TO    Finning International             0.0    -0.2
UFX.TO    Domtar Canada Paper               0.0    -0.3
ABX.TO    Barrick Gold Corp.               -0.1     0.0
GWO.TO    Great-West Lifeco                -0.1     0.0
L.TO      Loblaw Companies                 -0.1     0.0
CVE.TO    Cenovus Energy                   -0.1    -0.1
G.TO      Goldcorp Inc.                    -0.1    -0.1
RY.TO     Royal Bank of Canada             -0.1    -0.2
T.TO      TELUS Corp.                      -0.1    -0.2
HSE.TO    Husky Energy                     -0.1    -1.7
TRI.TO    Thomson Reuters                  -0.2     0.3
BCE.TO    BCE Inc.                         -0.2     0.2
SNC.TO    SNC-Lavalin Group                -0.2     0.1
PWF.TO    Power Financial Corp.            -0.2     0.0
TLM.TO    Talisman Energy                  -0.2     0.0
BPO.TO    Brookfield Office Properties     -0.2    -0.1
TRP.TO    TransCanada Corp.                -0.2    -0.1
BAM-A.TO  Brookfield Asset Management      -0.2    -0.2
K.TO      Kinross Gold                     -0.2    -0.2
NA.TO     National Bank of Canada          -0.2    -0.6
TIH.TO    Toromont Industries              -0.3     0.7
BMO.TO    Bank of Montreal                 -0.4    -1.5
POT.TO    Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan     -0.7    -0.1
MX.TO     Methanex Corp.                   -0.7    -0.5
MFC.TO    Manulife Financial               -0.7    -0.8
CU.TO     Canadian Utilities               -0.8     0.0
MBT.TO    Manitoba Telecom Services        -0.8    -0.8
FTS.TO    Fortis Inc.                      -0.9    -0.7
KEY.TO    Keyera Corp.                     -0.9    -0.9
TD.TO     TD Bank                          -0.9    -0.9
RUS.TO    Russel Metals                    -1.0    -0.1
SJR-B.TO  Shaw Communications              -1.0    -0.7
SLF.TO    Sun Life Financial Inc.          -1.0    -1.1
CP.TO     Canadian Pacific Railway         -1.0    -1.3
PWT.TO    Penn West Petroleum              -1.1    -0.9
BNS.TO    Bank of Nova Scotia              -1.1    -3.8
ENB.TO    Enbridge Inc.                    -1.2    -2.0
IFC.TO    Intact Financial                 -2.9     0.0
TA.TO     TransAlta Corporation            -2.9   -11.8
PPL.TO    Pembina Pipeline Corp.           -5.7   -71.9
IAG.TO    Industrial Alliance Ins & Fin    -7.7    -0.1
CPG.TO    Crescent Point Energy            -8.7   -10.5
PRE.TO    Pacific Rubiales Energy          -9.2    -1.0
GEI.TO    Gibson Energy                   -20.1    -2.4

Re: Share Buybacks

Posted: 17 Apr 2013 14:33
by schmuck
Thanks Denis, much appreciated.

Looks like AltaGas missed your cutoff date (if they were big enough to make the list). They issued over 10 mil shares early April.

Re: Share Buybacks

Posted: 17 Apr 2013 14:49
by FinEcon
Some companies know what a buyback is, 98% of them do not, examples on the list above abound. Here's a real example of buy back (and at great prices to boot):
Pulse Seismic - PSD
Shares out Dec 31 2011: 66,045,571
Shares out Dec 31 2012: 61,140,442
~ -7.5%

:thumbsup:

Re: Share Buybacks

Posted: 11 Oct 2013 22:53
by DenisD
Time for the fall refresh of my Canadian large-cap screen.

One of the inputs to the screen is the % of shares bought back over the previous year. I thought some of you would be interested in who's buying back shares.

The table below shows the % reduction in shares outstanding for the two previous six-month periods for the selected companies. A positive number means shares have been bought back.

I download the shares outstanding at month end every 6 months using the screener at TMXMoney and compare the numbers to the corresponding issue of TSX eReview magazine.

If companies have multiple share classes, I either add the numbers together or weight the classes by the trading price. Some classes appear to be unlisted. In that case, I either copy the additional number of shares from the quarterly report or just use the one class listed.

I've added the current year numbers to my spreadsheet containing historical buybacks for each company.

Code: Select all

Symbol    Name                           Sep/13  Mar/13
MRU.TO    Metro Inc.                        4.1     1.6
T.TO      TELUS Corp.                       3.7    -0.1
MG.TO     Magna International               2.8     0.1
SC.TO     Shoppers Drug Mart                1.9     1.6
AGU.TO    Agrium                            1.8     5.4
THI.TO    Tim Hortons                       1.8     0.8
CNR.TO    Canadian National Railway         1.7     1.6
WJA.TO    WestJet Airlines                  1.7     1.3
SU.TO     Suncor Energy                     1.5     1.2
PJC-A.TO  Jean Coutu Group (PJC)            1.4     1.1
BMO.TO    Bank of Montreal                  1.4    -0.4
IFC.TO    Intact Financial                  1.3    -2.9
TCK-B.TO  Teck Resources                    1.0     0.6
CTC-A.TO  Canadian Tire Corporation         0.9     0.4
SAP.TO    Saputo Inc.                       0.9     0.2
QBR-B.TO  Quebecor Inc.                     0.8     1.1
OCX.TO    Onex Corporation                  0.5     0.8
CNQ.TO    Canadian Natural Resources        0.5     0.2
TD.TO     TD Bank                           0.5    -0.9
RY.TO     Royal Bank of Canada              0.4    -0.1
BAM-A.TO  Brookfield Asset Management       0.3    -0.2
CM.TO     CIBC                              0.2     1.3
RCI-B.TO  Rogers Communications             0.1     0.0
POT.TO    Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan      0.1    -0.7
IGM.TO    IGM Financial                     0.0     0.9
BA.TO     Bell Aliant Inc.                  0.0     0.0
CCO.TO    Cameco                            0.0     0.0
COS.TO    Canadian Oil Sands                0.0     0.0
UFX.TO    Domtar Canada Paper               0.0     0.0
EMP-A.TO  Empire Company                    0.0     0.0
FFH.TO    Fairfax Financial Holdings        0.0     0.0
FTT.TO    Finning International             0.0     0.0
IMO.TO    Imperial Oil                      0.0     0.0
POW.TO    Power Corp of Canada              0.0     0.0
ABX.TO    Barrick Gold Corp.                0.0    -0.1
CVE.TO    Cenovus Energy                    0.0    -0.1
BCE.TO    BCE Inc.                          0.0    -0.2
TRI.TO    Thomson Reuters                   0.0    -0.2
ATD-B.TO  Alimentation Couche-Tard         -0.1     0.1
ACO-X.TO  ATCO Ltd.                        -0.1     0.1
G.TO      Goldcorp Inc.                    -0.1    -0.1
HSE.TO    Husky Energy                     -0.1    -0.1
L.TO      Loblaw Companies                 -0.1    -0.1
BPO.TO    Brookfield Office Properties     -0.1    -0.2
K.TO      Kinross Gold                     -0.1    -0.2
NA.TO     National Bank of Canada          -0.1    -0.2
TLM.TO    Talisman Energy                  -0.1    -0.2
TIH.TO    Toromont Industries              -0.1    -0.3
WN.TO     George Weston                    -0.2     0.4
BBD-B.TO  Bombardier Inc.                  -0.2     0.0
PWF.TO    Power Financial Corp.            -0.2    -0.2
SNC.TO    SNC-Lavalin Group                -0.2    -0.2
TRP.TO    TransCanada Corp.                -0.2    -0.2
RUS.TO    Russel Metals                    -0.2    -1.0
ECA.TO    Encana Corporation               -0.3     0.0
CP.TO     Canadian Pacific Railway         -0.4    -1.0
PRE.TO    Pacific Rubiales Energy          -0.4    -9.2
MFC.TO    Manulife Financial               -0.6    -0.7
CU.TO     Canadian Utilities               -0.7    -0.8
MBT.TO    Manitoba Telecom Services        -0.7    -0.8
KEY.TO    Keyera Corp.                     -0.7    -0.9
IAG.TO    Industrial Alliance Ins & Fin    -0.8    -7.7
BNS.TO    Bank of Nova Scotia              -0.9    -1.1
GEI.TO    Gibson Energy                    -0.9   -20.1
SLF.TO    Sun Life Financial Inc.          -1.0    -1.0
MX.TO     Methanex Corp.                   -1.1    -0.7
SJR-B.TO  Shaw Communications              -1.1    -1.0
PWT.TO    Penn West Petroleum              -1.2    -1.1
PPL.TO    Pembina Pipeline Corp.           -1.6    -5.7
ENB.TO    Enbridge Inc.                    -2.3    -1.2
CPG.TO    Crescent Point Energy            -2.9    -8.7
TA.TO     TransAlta Corporation            -3.0    -2.9
GWO.TO    Great-West Lifeco                -5.2    -0.1
FTS.TO    Fortis Inc.                     -10.4    -0.9
FM.TO     First Quantum Minerals          -24.0     0.0

Re: Share Buybacks

Posted: 01 Apr 2014 23:50
by DenisD
Time for the spring refresh of my Canadian large-cap screen.

One of the inputs to the screen is the % of shares bought back over the previous year. I thought some of you would be interested in who's buying back shares.

The table below shows the % reduction in shares outstanding for the two previous six-month periods for the selected companies. A positive number means shares have been bought back.

I downloaded the shares outstanding at Sep month end this morning using the screener at TMXMoney. The numbers from 6 and 12 months ago come from TSX eReview magazine.

If companies have multiple share classes, I either add the numbers together or weight the classes by the trading price. Some classes appear to be unlisted. In that case, I either copy the additional number of shares from the quarterly report or just use the one class listed.

Code: Select all

Symbol   Name                           Mar/14  Sep/13
PJC-A.TO Jean Coutu Group (PJC)           10.5     1.4
THI.TO   Tim Hortons                       8.3     1.8
MRU.TO   Metro Inc.                        4.3     4.1
MG.TO    Magna International               2.5     2.8
AGU.TO   Agrium                            2.1     1.8
OCX.TO   Onex Corporation                  2.1     0.5
PRE.TO   Pacific Rubiales Energy           2.1    -0.4
WJA.TO   WestJet Airlines                  1.9     1.7
SU.TO    Suncor Energy                     1.8     1.5
POT.TO   Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan      1.5     0.1
CNR.TO   Canadian National Railway         1.4     1.7
TRI.TO   Thomson Reuters                   1.4       0
T.TO     TELUS Corp.                       0.9     3.7
CTC-A.TO Canadian Tire Corporation         0.6     0.9
QBR-B.TO Quebecor Inc.                     0.5     0.8
CM.TO    CIBC                              0.5     0.2
GWO.TO   Great-West Lifeco                 0.1    -5.2
IFC.TO   Intact Financial                    0     1.3
TCK-B.TO Teck Resources                      0       1
SAP.TO   Saputo Inc.                         0     0.9
RCI-B.TO Rogers Communications               0     0.1
POW.TO   Power Corp of Canada                0       0
CCO.TO   Cameco Corp.                        0       0
IMO.TO   Imperial Oil                        0       0
COS.TO   Canadian Oil Sands                  0       0
BA.TO    Bell Aliant Inc.                    0       0
ACO-X.TO ATCO Ltd.                           0    -0.1
HSE.TO   Husky Energy                        0    -0.1
BBD-B.TO Bombardier Inc.                     0    -0.2
WN.TO    George Weston                       0    -0.2
PWF.TO   Power Financial Corp.               0    -0.2
FM.TO    First Quantum Minerals              0     -24
BMO.TO   Bank of Montreal                 -0.1     1.4
RY.TO    Royal Bank of Canada             -0.1     0.4
IGM.TO   IGM Financial                    -0.1       0
CVE.TO   Cenovus Energy                   -0.1       0
FTT.TO   Finning International            -0.1       0
LNR.TO   Linamar Corp.                    -0.1       0
BCE.TO   BCE Inc.                         -0.1       0
G.TO     Goldcorp Inc.                    -0.1    -0.1
TLM.TO   Talisman Energy                  -0.1    -0.1
K.TO     Kinross Gold                     -0.1    -0.1
TRP.TO   TransCanada Corp.                -0.1    -0.2
SNC.TO   SNC-Lavalin Group                -0.2    -0.2
RUS.TO   Russel Metals                    -0.2    -0.2
UFX.TO   Domtar Canada Paper              -0.3       0
CP.TO    Canadian Pacific Railway         -0.3    -0.4
TD.TO    TD Bank                          -0.4     0.5
CNQ.TO   Canadian Natural Resources       -0.4     0.5
BAM-A.TO Brookfield Asset Management      -0.4     0.3
TIH.TO   Toromont Industries              -0.4    -0.1
ECA.TO   EnCana Corp.                     -0.4    -0.3
ATD-B.TO Alimentation Couche-Tard         -0.5    -0.1
MFC.TO   Manulife Financial               -0.6    -0.6
SLF.TO   Sun Life Financial Inc.          -0.6      -1
PWT.TO   Penn West Petroleum              -0.6    -1.2
NA.TO    National Bank of Canada          -0.7    -0.1
ENB.TO   Enbridge Inc.                    -0.7    -2.3
FTS.TO   Fortis Inc.                      -0.7   -10.4
CU.TO    Canadian Utilities               -0.8    -0.7
GEI.TO   Gibson Energy                    -0.8    -0.9
MX.TO    Methanex Corp.                   -0.8    -1.1
BNS.TO   Bank of Nova Scotia                -1    -0.9
SJR-B.TO Shaw Communications                -1    -1.1
KEY.TO   Keyera Corp.                     -1.1    -0.7
IAG.TO   Industrial Alliance Ins & Fin    -1.1    -0.8
TA.TO    TransAlta Corporation            -1.5      -3
CPG.TO   Crescent Point Energy            -1.9    -2.9
PPL.TO   Pembina Pipeline Corp.           -2.8    -1.6
WFT.TO   West Fraser Timber Co.           -3.5       0
FFH.TO   Fairfax Financial Holdings         -5       0
MBT.TO   Manitoba Telecom Services       -13.8    -0.7
ABX.TO   Barrick Gold Corp.              -16.3       0
EMP-A.TO Empire Company                  -35.9       0
L.TO     Loblaw Companies                -46.2    -0.1

Re: Share Buybacks

Posted: 05 Oct 2014 21:21
by ig17
S&P and TMX launched two new indices:

S&P/TSX Composite Buyback Index
The S&P/TSX Composite Buyback Index provides exposure to the 50 constituent companies in the S&P/TSX Composite Index with the highest buyback ratio in the last 12 months. The buyback ratio is defined as the monetary amount of cash paid for common shares buyback in the last four calendar quarters with interim reports available divided by the total market capitalization of common shares at the beginning of the buyback period.
S&P/TSX Composite Shareholder Yield Index
The S&P/TSX Composite Shareholder Yield Index provides exposure to the 50 constituent companies in the S&P/TSX Composite Index with the highest shareholder yield ratio in the last 12 months. The shareholder yield ratio is defined as the monetary amount of cash paid for common dividends and common shares buyback plus debt paydown (change in total debt) in the last four calendar quarters with interim reports available divided by the total market capitalization of common shares at the beginning of the shareholder yield period.
In related news, Horizons ETFs Management Inc has licensed the S&P/TSX Composite Shareholder Yield Index as the basis for a potential new exchange-traded fund for the Canadian market.

N.B. Buyback index seems flawed. It targets gross buybacks. Net buybacks is a better metric: it takes into account simultaneous share issuance.

Re: Share Buybacks

Posted: 05 Oct 2014 22:11
by DenisD
ig17 wrote:N.B. Buyback index seems flawed. It targets gross buybacks. Net buybacks is a better metric: it takes into account simultaneous share issuance.
I agree. Maybe one of these days I'll backtest the two and see if history agrees as well.

Time for the fall refresh of my Canadian large-cap screen.

One of the inputs to the screen is the % of shares bought back over the previous year. I thought some of you would be interested in who's buying back shares.

The table below shows the % reduction in shares outstanding for the two previous six-month periods for the selected companies. A positive number means shares have been bought back.

I download the shares outstanding at month end every 6 months using the screener at TMXMoney and compare the numbers to the corresponding issue of TSX eReview magazine.

If companies have multiple share classes, I either add the numbers together or weight the classes by the trading price. Some classes appear to be unlisted. In that case, I either copy the additional number of shares from the quarterly report or just use the one class listed.

I've added the current year numbers to my spreadsheet containing historical buybacks for each company.

Code: Select all

Symbol    Name                           Sep/14  Mar/14
THI.TO    Tim Hortons                       3.9     8.3
MG.TO     Magna International               3.9     2.5
MRU.TO    Metro Inc.                        2.9     4.3
POT.TO    Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan      2.6     1.5
CP.TO     Canadian Pacific Railway          2.0    -0.3
MX.TO     Methanex Corp.                    1.9    -0.8
TRI.TO    Thomson Reuters                   1.5     1.4
T.TO      TELUS Corp.                       1.3     0.9
WFT.TO    West Fraser Timber Co.            1.3    -3.5
CTC-A.TO  Canadian Tire Corporation         1.2     0.6
CNR.TO    Canadian National Railway         1.0     1.4
PJC-A.TO  Jean Coutu Group (PJC)            0.8    10.5
PRE.TO    Pacific Rubiales Energy           0.7     2.1
OCX.TO    Onex Corporation                  0.5     2.1
SU.TO     Suncor Energy                     0.4     1.8
CM.TO     CIBC                              0.2     0.5
QBR-B.TO  Quebecor Inc.                     0.1     0.5
IGM.TO    IGM Financial                     0.1    -0.1
RY.TO     Royal Bank of Canada              0.1    -0.1
AGU.TO    Agrium                            0.0     2.1
GWO.TO    Great-West Lifeco                 0.0     0.1
BA.TO     Bell Aliant Inc.                  0.0     0.0
BBD-B.TO  Bombardier Inc.                   0.0     0.0
CCO.TO    Cameco Corp.                      0.0     0.0
COS.TO    Canadian Oil Sands                0.0     0.0
HSE.TO    Husky Energy                      0.0     0.0
IMO.TO    Imperial Oil                      0.0     0.0
IFC.TO    Intact Financial                  0.0     0.0
PWF.TO    Power Financial Corp.             0.0     0.0
RCI-B.TO  Rogers Communications             0.0     0.0
TCK-B.TO  Teck Resources                    0.0     0.0
K.TO      Kinross Gold                      0.0    -0.1
LNR.TO    Linamar Corp.                     0.0    -0.1
TLM.TO    Talisman Energy                   0.0    -0.1
TRP.TO    TransCanada Corp.                 0.0    -0.1
ECA.TO    EnCana Corp.                      0.0    -0.4
ATD-B.TO  Alimentation Couche-Tard          0.0    -0.5
FFH.TO    Fairfax Financial Holdings        0.0    -5.0
ABX.TO    Barrick Gold Corp.                0.0   -16.3
EMP-A.TO  Empire Company                    0.0   -35.9
WJA.TO    WestJet Airlines                 -0.1     1.9
ACO-X.TO  ATCO Ltd.                        -0.1     0.0
CVE.TO    Cenovus Energy                   -0.1    -0.1
FTT.TO    Finning International            -0.1    -0.1
G.TO      Goldcorp Inc.                    -0.1    -0.1
CNQ.TO    Canadian Natural Resources       -0.1    -0.4
TD.TO     TD Bank                          -0.1    -0.4
WN.TO     George Weston                    -0.2     0.0
POW.TO    Power Corp of Canada             -0.2     0.0
BCE.TO    BCE Inc.                         -0.2    -0.1
BAM-A.TO  Brookfield Asset Management      -0.2    -0.4
TIH.TO    Toromont Industries              -0.2    -0.4
NA.TO     National Bank of Canada          -0.2    -0.7
BNS.TO    Bank of Nova Scotia              -0.2    -1.0
BMO.TO    Bank of Montreal                 -0.3    -0.1
SNC.TO    SNC-Lavalin Group                -0.3    -0.2
SLF.TO    Sun Life Financial Inc.          -0.3    -0.6
L.TO      Loblaw Companies                 -0.3   -46.2
SAP.TO    Saputo Inc.                      -0.5     0.0
MFC.TO    Manulife Financial               -0.5    -0.6
IAG.TO    Industrial Alliance Ins & Fin    -0.6    -1.1
RUS.TO    Russel Metals                    -0.7    -0.2
CU.TO     Canadian Utilities               -0.7    -0.8
MBT.TO    Manitoba Telecom Services        -0.8   -13.8
PWT.TO    Penn West Petroleum              -0.9    -0.6
GEI.TO    Gibson Energy                    -0.9    -0.8
FTS.TO    Fortis Inc.                      -1.0    -0.7
SJR-B.TO  Shaw Communications              -1.0    -1.0
TA.TO     TransAlta Corporation            -1.1    -1.5
FM.TO     First Quantum Minerals           -1.6     0.0
ENB.TO    Enbridge Inc.                    -1.8    -0.7
PPL.TO    Pembina Pipeline Corp.           -2.2    -2.8
KEY.TO    Keyera Corp.                     -5.9    -1.1
CPG.TO    Crescent Point Energy            -6.6    -1.9

Re: Share Buybacks

Posted: 06 Oct 2014 00:06
by AltaRed
I am surprised to see ENB to be so negative. Less surprised by PPL and KEY. OTOH, it doesn't surprise me at all to see ponzi CPG so negative. Companies with so much disregard for the shareholder truly should have no respect.

Re: Share Buybacks

Posted: 06 Oct 2014 00:15
by ig17
CPG is the darling of dividend chasers. Yet their payout yield is close to zero. Shareholder yield is negative.

Payout yield = dividend yield + buyback yield
Shareholder yield = dividend yield + buyback yield + debt repayment

Re: Share Buybacks

Posted: 25 Oct 2014 23:42
by DenisD
On Oct 5, DenisD wrote:I download the shares outstanding at month end every 6 months using the screener at TMXMoney and compare the numbers to the corresponding issue of TSX eReview magazine.
The library printed off a copy of TSX eReview magazine last week. So I compared the shares outstanding in the magazine with those I downloaded from the screener on October 1. Usually, there are one or two small differences. This time, to my surprise, nearly half were different! Eventually, I discovered that the shares outstanding displayed by the screener are different from those displayed on the quotes screen. They used to be the same, as far as I could tell. Also, the screener shares outstanding on October 1 are the same as those on October 23. It looks like they stopped updating the screener numbers some time ago. :shock: :(

Most of the differences are minor. Companies that were buying back shares bought back some more. Companies that were issuing shares issued some more. CPG increased its shares outstanding 11.4% in the past 6 months rather than 6.6%.

The significant difference for me was BCE. BCE increased its shares outstanding 6.4% in the past 6 months to pay for BA rather than 0.2%. With the correct numbers, I would have bought POW instead of BCE when I refreshed my Canadian large-cap screen on October 6. In the past 3 weeks, POW has gone down about $1.70 and BCE has gone up a bit. So the error hasn't hurt me so far. I'm not sure whether I will correct the error or not. On October 6, I also bought PWF, GWO, IGM. Maybe that's enough from the Power empire. OTOH ...

Re: Share Buybacks

Posted: 26 Oct 2014 11:06
by AltaRed
Issuing shares for the purpose of an acquisition is different IF the acquisition is accretive. It is the issuing of Treasury shares to pay for compensation schemes and DRIPs that really piss me off. The best companies buy back float to avoid dilution.

Re: Share Buybacks

Posted: 26 Oct 2014 13:05
by Springbok
ig17 wrote:CPG is the darling of dividend chasers. Yet their payout yield is close to zero. Shareholder yield is negative.

Payout yield = dividend yield + buyback yield
Shareholder yield = dividend yield + buyback yield + debt repayment
Seeing I own 1000 cpg shares, interested in your and Alta's remarks.

I bought CPG for about $40 in 2010. Trading range has been about that point with current price of $38.xx at low end of range (due no doubt to current low oil prices). But let's say that on average no gain or loss. During the 4 year period shares have been owned, dividend has been stable at $2.76 (6.9% based on purchase price).

According to G&M site, "Net income grew by 28.00%, year over year, to $0.24 per share during the most recently completed quarter. This was among the strongest growth seen by any company in this industry. " and "Of the 28 analysts surveyed by Reuters Estimates that cover Crescent Point Energy Corp, the consensus rating is a buy. The rating changed on 10/9/2014 when it was downgraded from a strong buy." Another source, the Motley Fool likes it too.

I realize that it is not your conservative blue chip stock, but what is there not to like about a 7% dividend yield even if stock price does not appreciate because company issues new shares, presumably to fund their expansion projects? Many analysts seem to like the company's potential, yet you obviously do not like CPG? The analysts & Motley Fool must be missing something ;)

I do understand that a 6.9% Total Return over past 4 years is not great compared with say a bank stock like RY which would have returned 12.5%. But we can't have all our investments in bank stocks, so what should we invest in in the oil patch?

Had a look at PPL (also near bottom of buyback charts) on G&M site and report was similar to that of CPG. Yield is about 1/2 of cpg's, but 4 year Total Return is 30.9%! We do own some PPL, but will it repeat that previous performance?

Re: Share Buybacks

Posted: 26 Oct 2014 14:44
by j831robert
Like Springbok I'm a happy CPG dividend chaser and have been since 2006. My CPS IS $20.493 and my returns have easily covered my trips to Vegas. Mind you, I would not add to my current holdings but my twitch point will be around $25 and even then we might part company sans regrets after a great run !

Re: Share Buybacks

Posted: 26 Oct 2014 16:14
by ig17
CPG has a negative shareholder yield. Historical data shows that companies with a negative SY underperform the market. Not every one of them, of course. They underperform on average as a group. Negative SY is a strong statistical headwind. CPG might be able to defy statistical odds... I'm not smart enough to figure out why. I prefer to stay away.

Re: Share Buybacks

Posted: 26 Oct 2014 18:04
by Springbok
ig17 wrote:CPG is the darling of dividend chasers. Yet their payout yield is close to zero. Shareholder yield is negative.

Payout yield = dividend yield + buyback yield
Shareholder yield = dividend yield + buyback yield + debt repayment
I am interested just where these numbers come from.

Dividend yield is straight forward and is presumably based on current annual dividend and current share price. Fairly steady number over past few years.

Buyback yield would presumably be based on shares bought back over past 12 month and total float. Could vary widely from year to year.

Debt repayment yield - I have no idea exactly what that is, but also widely variable.

Getting to my question. Are you adding/subtracting percentages that are based on different denominators? If not, presumably you must use same denominator as used for dividend yield. Market value of company float?

I am not questioning that the three factors are related, but I would be interested in actual numbers and how they were used to determine a negative result, and over what period.

Re: Share Buybacks

Posted: 26 Oct 2014 19:05
by ig17
Dividends and buybacks are equivalent in many respects. Both return cash to the shareholders.

Buyback yield = % year over year change in shares outstanding. Nothing stops you from checking the trend beyond the last 12 months. CPG issued new shares each and every year for the last 10 years. Their buyback yield has been consistently negative.

Debt repayment yield = % year over year change in (total debt / market cap). CPG record here is mixed.

High shareholder yield is a sign of a strong free cash flow. The company with a high SY generates tons of free cash to pay dividends, or/and buy back shares, or/and pay down debt. There is a wide body of research available showing that, on average as a group, such companies outperform the market.

3-part series of blog posts on the shareholder yield:

http://howtoinvestonline.blogspot.ca/20 ... rsion.html
http://howtoinvestonline.blogspot.ca/20 ... pular.html
http://howtoinvestonline.blogspot.ca/20 ... rding.html

The second link includes a table that shows CPG data among other stocks. CPG shareholder yield is -7.13%. To me, it's an instant red flag.

Re: Share Buybacks

Posted: 26 Oct 2014 19:41
by AltaRed
I don't care much about shareholder yield because I don't like the debt component of the equation and I'd only look at buyback yield net of any secondary offering for acquisitions (acquisitions can be accretive). CPG figures terribly on buyback yield (even after stripping out secondary offerings) which is fully within their control. Many investors are dripping their shares and those shares are coming from Treasury. IOW, they are paying shareholders back mostly with their own money via dilution. Additionally, CPG has essentially no return on equity and a high P/E probably due to high UOP (unit of production) allocations. I say probably because that is not uncommon in growth (acquisition) stories and I have not analyzed their financials nearly well enough.

Much of CPG's ultimate worth may be in its probable reserves/resources for which it has paid dearly for in its acquisitions on the promise they will be able to convert those probable reserves into proved reserves at low development capex. Are they? Can they? If they can, then UOP will come down and CPG will be booking earnings. If they don't, then they have just burned through shareholder's money with nothing to show for it. I don't like taking bets on promise. I want to see strong and consistent ROE (short term aberrations due to commodity prices notwithstanding).

Re: Share Buybacks

Posted: 26 Oct 2014 20:23
by Springbok
Thanks for the explanations and discussions.

Not sure I have this straight, but this is my take:

- It seems that a company that pays a reasonable dividend, buys back it's own shares and pays down it's debt regularly would have a high shareholder yield.

- Looking at it another way, a high shareholder yield could also indicate a company devoid of good ideas on how to use profit and raised capital to grow the enterprise.

- An exploration company like CPG and several others who are on acquisition or expansion binges will no doubt have low or negative shareholder yield. Investors would have to decide whether or not they have confidence in management to redeploy earnings and raised capital wisely. Obviously higher risk and hopefully eventually higher returns.

Shareholder Yield seems to me like an interesting concept, but not one to be used blindly.

Re: Share Buybacks

Posted: 26 Oct 2014 21:32
by DenisD
Yabbut, when you use shareholder yield blindly, historically, you beat the market. That's shareholder yield as defined by O'Shaughnessy – dividend yield + buyback yield.

Re: Share Buybacks

Posted: 26 Oct 2014 22:06
by AltaRed
DenisD wrote:Yabbut, when you use shareholder yield blindly, historically, you beat the market. That's shareholder yield as defined by O'Shaughnessy – dividend yield + buyback yield.
As you define it, yes.

The problem with outfits like CPG is one really does not know whether management is adding long term value UNLESS one can pretty confident on how good probable reserves are and how efficient dev capex can be deployed on a BOE basis. Both things have to go quite well to materially decrease DD&A and improve earnings. I remember the days of Renaissance Energy when they could do no wrong.... until their business model stalled and Husky took them out. The details are long lost from my memory. If one is in these companies for the fairly short term, e.g. 10 years, that might go well. Long term, it's a crap shoot.

Re: Share Buybacks

Posted: 11 Apr 2015 02:14
by DenisD
Time for the spring refresh of my Canadian large-cap screen.

One of the inputs to the screen is the % of shares bought back over the previous year. I thought some of you would be interested in who's buying back shares.

The table below shows the % reduction in shares outstanding for the two previous six-month periods for the selected companies. A positive number means shares have been bought back.

I download the shares outstanding at month end every 6 months using the screener at TMXMoney and compare the numbers to the corresponding issue of TSX eReview magazine.
On Oct 25 DenisD wrote:It looks like they stopped updating the screener numbers some time ago. :shock: :(
When I ran the screener at the end of March, it looked like the number of shares outstanding was back in sync with the Quotes page at TMXMoney. So, I did my refresh on Monday this week. Today, I went to the library to see if they'd printed the March issue of TSX eReview magazine. The spot where the magazines usually are was empty. Eventually, I learned that they've cancelled their subscription! I guess I'll be using the screener only from now on.

Code: Select all

Symbol    Name                           Mar/15  Sep/14
CP.TO     Canadian Pacific Railway          4.1     2.4
MG.TO     Magna International               3.1     4.2
MX.TO     Methanex Corp.                    2.9     1.9
CTC-A.TO  Canadian Tire Corporation         1.4     1.6
TRI.TO    Thomson Reuters                   1.4     1.5
SU.TO     Suncor Energy                     1.4     0.4
MRU.TO    Metro Inc.                        1.2     3.3
CNR.TO    Canadian National Railway         1.1     1.3
OCX.TO    Onex Corporation                  0.9     1.4
T.TO      TELUS Corp.                       0.9     1.3
WJA.TO    WestJet Airlines                  0.6     0.0
BNS.TO    Bank of Nova Scotia               0.6    -0.2
WFT.TO    West Fraser Timber Co.            0.4     2.2
IGM.TO    IGM Financial                     0.3     0.1
L.TO      Loblaw Companies                  0.3    -0.3
BMO.TO    Bank of Montreal                  0.3    -0.6
GWO.TO    Great-West Lifeco                 0.2     0.0
WN.TO     George Weston                     0.2    -0.2
ACO-X.TO  ATCO Ltd.                         0.1    -0.1
SAP.TO    Saputo Inc.                       0.1    -0.6
QBR-B.TO  Quebecor Inc.                     0.0     0.1
AGU.TO    Agrium                            0.0     0.0
ABX.TO    Barrick Gold Corp.                0.0     0.0
CCO.TO    Cameco Corp.                      0.0     0.0
COS.TO    Canadian Oil Sands                0.0     0.0
HSE.TO    Husky Energy                      0.0     0.0
IMO.TO    Imperial Oil                      0.0     0.0
IFC.TO    Intact Financial                  0.0     0.0
RCI-B.TO  Rogers Communications             0.0     0.0
TLM.TO    Talisman Energy                   0.0     0.0
TCK-B.TO  Teck Resources                    0.0     0.0
CNQ.TO    Canadian Natural Resources        0.0    -0.1
FTT.TO    Finning International             0.0    -0.1
SNC.TO    SNC-Lavalin Group                 0.0    -0.3
FM.TO     First Quantum Minerals            0.0    -1.6
CM.TO     CIBC                             -0.1     0.2
RY.TO     Royal Bank of Canada             -0.1     0.1
ATD-B.TO  Alimentation Couche-Tard         -0.1     0.0
TRP.TO    TransCanada Corp.                -0.1     0.0
K.TO      Kinross Gold                     -0.2     0.0
PWF.TO    Power Financial Corp.            -0.2     0.0
POW.TO    Power Corp of Canada             -0.2    -0.2
SLF.TO    Sun Life Financial Inc.          -0.2    -0.3
POT.TO    Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan     -0.3     2.6
TD.TO     TD Bank                          -0.3    -0.1
PJC-A.TO  Jean Coutu Group (PJC)           -0.4     1.2
NA.TO     National Bank of Canada          -0.4    -0.2
CU.TO     Canadian Utilities               -0.4    -0.7
RUS.TO    Russel Metals                    -0.4    -0.7
LNR.TO    Linamar Corp.                    -0.5     0.0
BAM-A.TO  Brookfield Asset Management      -0.5    -0.3
KEY.TO    Keyera Corp.                     -0.5    -6.0
TIH.TO    Toromont Industries              -0.6    -0.2
ENB.TO    Enbridge Inc.                    -0.6    -1.8
IAG.TO    Industrial Alliance Ins & Fin    -0.8    -0.7
GEI.TO    Gibson Energy                    -0.8    -1.1
EMA.TO    Emera Inc.                       -0.9    -0.4
MBT.TO    Manitoba Telecom Services        -0.9    -0.8
MFI.TO    Maple Leaf Foods                 -1.1    -0.8
TA.TO     TransAlta Corporation            -1.3    -1.1
PWT.TO    Penn West Petroleum              -1.4    -0.9
EMP-A.TO  Empire Company                   -1.5     0.0
CPG.TO    Crescent Point Energy            -1.6   -11.4
SJR-B.TO  Shaw Communications              -1.7    -1.0
BCE.TO    BCE Inc.                         -1.7    -6.4
G.TO      Goldcorp Inc.                    -1.8    -0.1
VRX.TO    Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl.    -2.2    -0.1
TFI.TO    TransForce Inc.                  -2.7    -0.1
PPL.TO    Pembina Pipeline Corp.           -4.2    -2.2
FFH.TO    Fairfax Financial Holdings       -5.5     0.0
MFC.TO    Manulife Financial               -6.0    -0.5
CVE.TO    Cenovus Energy                   -8.9    -0.1
ECA.TO    EnCana Corp.                    -13.3     0.0
BBD-B.TO  Bombardier Inc.                 -27.8     0.0
FTS.TO    Fortis Inc.                     -28.3    -1.0

Re: Share Buybacks

Posted: 19 Jul 2015 00:21
by DenisD
High Conviction Buybacks
Here is a time series back to 1987. I’ve also included share issuers here. You can see that on average firms issue shares at higher relative prices.

More interesting, while low conviction buyback companies buyback shares a little cheaper than the market on average (45th percentile or so across this sample), the higher conviction programs (5+% buybacks) tend to repurchases at much cheaper prices (33rd percentile or so).

Finally, the high conviction companies have gone on to ourperform the average large stock by about 3.3% in the subsequent year, while the low conviction firms haven’t really delivered much excess return at all (just 0.5%, on average).

Re: Share Buybacks

Posted: 02 Oct 2015 01:09
by DenisD
Time for the fall refresh of my Canadian large-cap screen.

One of the inputs to the screen is the % of shares bought back over the previous year. I thought some of you would be interested in who's buying back shares.

The table below shows the % reduction in shares outstanding for the two previous six-month periods for the selected companies. A positive number means shares have been bought back.

I download the shares outstanding at month end every 6 months using the screener at TMXMoney and compare the numbers to the TMXMoney quote page. This month, only 4 were different. But the differences were significant.

If companies have multiple share classes, I either add the numbers together or weight the classes by the trading price. Some classes appear to be unlisted. In that case, I either copy the additional number of shares from the quarterly report or just use the one class listed.

I've added the current year numbers to my spreadsheet containing historical buybacks for each company.

Code: Select all

Symbol    Name                           Sep/15  Mar/15
CP.TO     Canadian Pacific Railway          5.6     4.1
MRU.TO    Metro Inc.                        3.0     1.2
WJA.TO    WestJet Airlines                  2.8     0.6
MFI.TO    Maple Leaf Foods                  2.5    -1.1
AGU.TO    Agrium                            2.3     0.0
OCX.TO    Onex Corporation                  2.2     0.9
TFI.TO    TransForce Inc.                   2.2    -2.7
CTC-A.TO  Canadian Tire Corporation         2.0     1.4
TRI.TO    Thomson Reuters                   2.0     1.4
MX.TO     Methanex Corp.                    1.9     2.9
CNR.TO    Canadian National Railway         1.8     1.1
IGM.TO    IGM Financial                     1.8     0.3
SNC.TO    SNC-Lavalin Group                 1.8     0.0
EMP-A.TO  Empire Company                    1.4    -1.5
T.TO      TELUS Corp.                       1.2     0.9
WFT.TO    West Fraser Timber Co.            1.1     0.4
FTT.TO    Finning International             1.1     0.0
BMO.TO    Bank of Montreal                  0.7     0.3
MG.TO     Magna International               0.5     3.1
SLF.TO    Sun Life Financial Inc.           0.4    -0.2
BNS.TO    Bank of Nova Scotia               0.2     0.6
QBR-B.TO  Quebecor Inc.                     0.2     0.0
L.TO      Loblaw Companies                  0.0     0.3
ACO-X.TO  ATCO Ltd.                         0.0     0.1
ABX.TO    Barrick Gold Corp.                0.0     0.0
CCO.TO    Cameco Corp.                      0.0     0.0
COS.TO    Canadian Oil Sands                0.0     0.0
HBC.TO    Hudson's Bay Co.                  0.0     0.0
HSE.TO    Husky Energy                      0.0     0.0
IMO.TO    Imperial Oil                      0.0     0.0
IFC.TO    Intact Financial                  0.0     0.0
RCI-B.TO  Rogers Communications             0.0     0.0
TCK-B.TO  Teck Resources                    0.0     0.0
CM.TO     CIBC                              0.0    -0.1
PJC-A.TO  Jean Coutu Group (PJC)            0.0    -0.1
RY.TO     Royal Bank of Canada              0.0    -0.1
TRP.TO    TransCanada Corp.                 0.0    -0.1
K.TO      Kinross Gold                      0.0    -0.2
RUS.TO    Russel Metals                     0.0    -0.4
LNR.TO    Linamar Corp.                     0.0    -0.5
BBD-B.TO  Bombardier Inc.                   0.0   -27.8
SU.TO     Suncor Energy                    -0.1     1.4
WN.TO     George Weston                    -0.1     0.2
GWO.TO    Great-West Lifeco                -0.1     0.2
SAP.TO    Saputo Inc.                      -0.1     0.1
POW.TO    Power Corp of Canada             -0.1    -0.2
PWF.TO    Power Financial Corp.            -0.1    -0.2
VRX.TO    Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl.    -0.1    -2.2
FFH.TO    Fairfax Financial Holdings       -0.1    -5.5
MFC.TO    Manulife Financial               -0.1    -6.0
CNQ.TO    Canadian Natural Resources       -0.2     0.0
ATD-B.TO  Alimentation Couche-Tard         -0.2    -0.1
TD.TO     TD Bank                          -0.2    -0.3
NA.TO     National Bank of Canada          -0.2    -0.4
G.TO      Goldcorp Inc.                    -0.2    -1.8
ECA.TO    EnCana Corp.                     -0.2   -13.3
POT.TO    Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan     -0.4    -0.3
CU.TO     Canadian Utilities               -0.5    -0.4
ENB.TO    Enbridge Inc.                    -0.5    -0.6
TIH.TO    Toromont Industries              -0.5    -0.6
CCL-B.TO  CCL Industries                   -0.6     0.0
IAG.TO    Industrial Alliance Ins & Fin    -0.6    -0.8
KEY.TO    Keyera Corp.                     -0.8    -0.5
FTS.TO    Fortis Inc.                      -0.8   -28.3
GEI.TO    Gibson Energy                    -1.0    -0.8
EMA.TO    Emera Inc.                       -1.0    -0.9
MBT.TO    Manitoba Telecom Services        -1.0    -0.9
BCE.TO    BCE Inc.                         -1.0    -1.7
SJR-B.TO  Shaw Communications              -1.0    -1.7
CVE.TO    Cenovus Energy                   -1.1    -8.9
TA.TO     TransAlta Corporation            -1.3    -1.3
PPL.TO    Pembina Pipeline Corp.           -1.3    -4.2
BAM-A.TO  Brookfield Asset Management      -3.7    -0.5
CPG.TO    Crescent Point Energy           -12.3    -1.6
FM.TO     First Quantum Minerals          -14.7     0.0

Re: Share Buybacks

Posted: 03 Oct 2015 22:37
by BRIAN5000
http://www.researchaffiliates.com/Our%2 ... cy5uZXQ%3d

Mirage, Not Oasis
Alas, like the cool pool of water shimmering on the desert horizon that turns out to be only the refraction of light from blue sky onto hot sand, the 4.8% dividend-plus-buyback yield in the U.S. equity market is a cruel mirage. The reality is that publicly traded companies in the United States are issuing far more new securities than they are buying back, diluting existing investors’ ownership and reducing growth in earnings and dividends per share well below the growth of their reported profits.