August's New Massive Stock Buybacks... Over $30 Billion (LOW, CVS, CELG, COV, INTU, DISCA, HRS, LMT, RSG, LOW, ABC, MXIM, ANR, AVT, JAH, LUV, STJ, ECL, IPG, FRX, ACE, CLF, CTSH, KBR, NWL, VRX, AKAM, AOL, DLB, URBN, ACM, CHTR, MYGN, PFG, HSIC)

The pace of stock buyback announcements in the month of August was almost unbelievable.  The pace was stronger at the start of the month when earnings were still coming in droves, but the number of newly announced buyback plans and the extended or expanded buyback plans remained high throughout the entire month.  Many companies announce share buybacks and never spend much on the actual plan.  Today, these companies are by and large actually living up to their promises.  These are The August Buyback Kings….

We would normally group these alphabetically, but not today.  We grouped these in order of size and then we used an alphabetic order when it came to the same size of a buyback announcement.  The first group is the billions of dollars.

We then grouped the stocks by size again from the under $1 billion down to $500 million, and then we grouped the buybacks of under $500 million down to $200 million.  Usually we would cut the list off at buybacks of the $100 million and higher but the list was already too big so we cut the Buyback Kings off at $200 million for August.  Lastly, we have a chart at the very end tallying it all up…. Some $28.7 billion for just the $200 million and higher in new or expanded buyback announcements.  There were literally dozens of other buybacks that were closer to the $100 million mark and many more that were less than that.

The $1 billion and higher alone which were announced in August were as follows: Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE: LOW); CVS Caremark Corporation (NYSE: CVS); Celgene Corporation (NASDAQ: CELG); Covidien plc (NYSE: COV); Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU); Discovery Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: DISCA); Harris Corporation (NYSE: HRS); and Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE: LMT).

The billionaire boys club…

Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE: LOW) authorized for up to $5 billion over the next two to three years and its market capitalization is roughly $25 billion. Maybe if people aren’t improving their houses the company can buy up extra slack in the stock.

CVS Caremark Corporation (NYSE: CVS) announced a plan of up to $4 billion on top of a prior plan, and its market cap is close to $48 billion. Drugstores aren’t having a recession.

Celgene Corporation (NASDAQ: CELG) announced a buyback of up to $2 billion against a market cap of close to $27 billion.  It is rare to see a biotech giant buying stock rather than a smaller competitor, but it happens.

Covidien plc (NYSE: COV) approved a plan to repurchase up to $2 billion in ordinary shares against a market cap of over $23 billion.  So much for worrying about the business of healthcare products.

Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU) announced a share buyback of up to $2 billion against a market cap of almost $13 billion at the time.  Imagine having a perceived monopoly when it comes to accounting software.

Discovery Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: DISCA) approved a new $1 billion share buyback plan early in the month and its market cap was $15 billion.  The media business empire continues.

Harris Corporation (NYSE: HRS) said early in August that a plan of up to $1 billion in shares and its market capitalization was a mere $4.4 billion. Selling IT and communications services to the government in an age of austerity…

Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE: LMT) announced a buyback in August of up to $1 billion on top of a prior buyback plan; its market cap is $24 billion.  Being a defense giant in an age of austerity…

$500 million to under $1 billion…

Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE: RSG) was up to $750 million against a market value of about $10.6 billion.

Lorillard, Inc. (NYSE: LO) completed a prior plan and added another $750 million to its buyback efforts against a market cap of almost $15 billion.

AmerisourceBergen Corporation (NYSE: ABC) completed a prior $500 million plan and authorized a new plan of up to $750 million against a $9.9 billion market cap.

Maxim Integrated Products Inc. (NASDAQ: MXIM) replaced a prior plan with a new buyback plan of up to $750 million against a market cap just under $6.5 billion.

Alpha Natural Resources, Inc. (NYSE: ANR) added $600 million to a prior buyback plan against a market cap of about $7 billion.

Avnet Inc. (NYSE: AVT) announced a buyback plan of up to $500 million versus a market cap of $4.1 billion.

Jarden Corporation (NYSE: JAH) already completed a $150 million plan and it announced a plan for up to $500 million, which was 20% of its $2.5 billion market cap.

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) approved a buyback plan of up to $500 million against a market cap of $6.6 billion.

St. Jude Medical Inc. (NYSE: STJ) announced in early August that it would repurchase up to $500 million versus a market cap of $13.8 billion.

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE: ECL) was roughly $500 million (10 million shares) on top of a prior plan and its market capitalization was above $11 billion at the time.

The $200 million to (up to) $500 million…

Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE: IPG) expanded its buyback plan with up to $450 million more against a market cap of about $4.15 billion.

Forest Laboratories Inc. (NYSE: FRX) agreed to repurchase another $350 million of common stock from Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS), just over 3% of the company’s value at the time versus a $9.55 billion market cap.

Ace Ltd. (NYSE: ACE) up to another $300 million on top of a larger plan against a market cap of about $20 billion.

Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE: CLF): up to 4 million shares, close to $300 million at the time, versus a market cap of nearly $11 billion.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. (NASDAQ: CTSH): up to $300 million on top of a prior plan versus a $19 billion market cap.

KBR, Inc. (NYSE: KBR) close to $300 million (10 million shares) versus a market cap of about $4.5 billion.

Newell Rubbermaid Inc. (NYSE: NWL): up to $300 million and the market cap was about $3.8 billion.

Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. (NYSE: VRX): up to $300 on top of a prior plan versus a market cap of $13+ billion.

Akamai Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM): up to $250 million more in an existing buyback program (new total was up to $400 million) against a market cap of $4.1 billion.

AOL Inc. (NYSE: AOL): up to $250 million versus a market cap of almost $1.3 billion.

Dolby Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE: DLB): up to an additional $250 million versus a market cap of about $3.6 billion.

Urban Outfitters, Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN) was close to $250 million more (10 million shares) in addition to a prior plan versus a market cap of $4.1 billion.

AECOM Technology Corp. (NYSE: ACM): up to $200 million versus a market cap of $2.4 billion;

Charter Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: CHTR): up to $200 million versus a $4.9 billion market cap.

Myriad Genetics Inc. (NASDAQ: MYGN); up to $200 million against a market cap of almost $1.7 billion.

Principal Financial Group Inc. (NYSE: PFG): up to $200 million versus market cap of about $7.4 billion.

Henry Schein Inc. (NASDAQ: HSIC): up to $200 million versus a market cap of $1.25 billion.

By the way, this expansive list also does not include the ongoing and updated buybacks from Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO), the promises of Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE: XOM) and Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX), and the possible promise to even expand the News Corporation (NASDAQ: NWSA) multi-billion buyback plans.  Those are either ongoing or were outside of the ‘new’ announced buyback plans during the month of August even though their buybacks were prominently featured in news stories throughout the month.

JON C. OGG

A table has been provided below summarizing all of these: