These buyback monsters are repurchasing a lot of their stock and are ready to step it up

Published Thu, May 26 202212:55 PM EDTUpdated Thu, May 26 20222:42 PM EDT

Corporations are increasingly repurchasing their shares as stock prices slide, and certain companies are ready to keep the buybacks coming. A share repurchase is when a company buys back its own shares from the marketplace. Doing so boosts per-share earnings by shrinking the number of shares outstanding, possibly enhancing the value of the stock. The stock market is suffering this year as investors eye inflation, the Federal Reserve's rate-hiking cycle, the war in Ukraine and other headwinds. The S & P 500 is down about 15% so far in 2022 and the Nasdaq Composite is off by roughly 26%. Meanwhile, buybacks are at record highs. Stock repurchases have already posted a new 12-month record of $953 billion, with 86% of first-quarter buybacks reported, according to Howard Silverblatt, senior index analyst at S & P Dow Jones Indices. The Invesco BuyBack Achievers exchange-traded fund is outperforming the broad market this week, up more than 5%. Companies are able to repurchase even more shares than usual as prices have fallen so dramatically, thus significantly boosting totals of earnings per share, Silverblatt said. "The thing that's different now versus '74 is companies can buy their own stock," LJH Investment Advisors' Larry Haverty told CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" on Wednesday, in reference to the stock market crash of 1973-74. "And these people are very, very sophisticated financially," To find the companies best positioned to keep buying back stock, potentially driving share prices higher, CNBC Pro screened for companies reducing the most share count, with still plenty of cash on hand. First, we looked at outstanding shares today versus one year ago. CNBC Pro then sorted the resulting list by those stocks that have reduced their share count the most in the past year. Then, CNBC Pro found names with high free cash flow yields — the cash companies have left over relative to their market value. We selected those with FCF yields above 5%, placing the companies in the top third of the S & P 500. Take a look at our list. (Source: FactSet. As of May 26, 2022.) Technology hardware stock HP Inc. topped the ranking with a 15.4% reduction in shares in the past year. HP also has a high FCF yield of 15.7%, giving it the resources to keep buying back shares. Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway in April revealed a major stake in HP . Analysts characterized the investment as a classic Berkshire value play, given the consistent capital returns generated by HP's aggressive buyback program and sizable dividends. Best Buy also makes CNBC's list, having decreased outstanding shares by 11% in one year. The company has an FCF yield of 10.3%. The retailer recently announced a big buyback program, reiterating in its latest quarterly report Tuesday it plans to repurchase $1.5 billion in shares in fiscal year 2023. Bath & Body Works is another company repurchasing a significant portion of shares. The company's outstanding shares have shrunk 14.4% and Bath & Body Works has an FCF yield of 8.2%. In February, Bath & Body Works also announced a $1.5 billion share repurchase authorization. Other stocks making the list include Marathon Petroleum , Capital One Financial Corp. and Charter Communications .