These buyback champions are shrinking their share count and analysts love them

Published Fri, May 12 202312:18 PM EDTUpdated Fri, May 12 202312:20 PM EDT

As earnings season winds down, traders can tap into these buyback champions that are shrinking their share count, and are beloved on Wall Street. More than 460 companies in the S & P 500, or roughly 92%, have reported earnings, according to FactSet. Of those, 78% reported a positive surprise. For investors, that means the buyback window is reopening, as companies usually wait a few days after they've reported results to repurchase their own stock. Buybacks are significant for investors, as they usually mean the value of each share is worth more. CNBC Pro screened for buyback champions that are shrinking their share count, and are considered buying opportunities by analysts. These are their characteristics. Common shares outstanding are down at least 2% over the past year Total debt as a percentage of capital is 50% or less Buy ratings from at least 55% of analysts covering them With this in mind, here are 11 names that surfaced. Facebook-parent Meta Platforms came up on the list. Common shares outstanding are down 5.3% over the past year, and the social media company's total debt as a percentage of capital stands at just 18%. It's considered a buying opportunity by 63% of analysts covering the stock. Analysts approved of Meta after its most recent quarterly results beat expectations, as well as daily active user forecasts. Wall Street firms such as Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley hiked their price targets, and pointed out the growth of the firm's artificial intelligence business. Energy company ConocoPhillips also surfaced on our list. Common shares outstanding dropped 6.4% in the past year. As a percentage of capital, total debt at the firm is about 25%. More than 66% of analysts approve of the stock. In fact, Goldman Sachs said in a note this week that Conoco remains its top pick among the three U.S. majors, citing the company's better-than-expected production numbers in its first-quarter results. "We remain constructive on COP's commitment to shareholder returns, where the company reiterated its 2023 commitment on the recent earnings call (2023 expected capital returns yield of ~9%)," Neil Mehta wrote in a Monday note. Chubb was on the list. Common shares outstanding fell 2.7% over the past year at the firm, while the company's total debt as a percentage of capital is nearly 24%. Last month, Citi upgraded Chubb to buy from neutral, saying it favors the property and casualty insurer for its "relative lack of balance sheet risk." Other stocks that surfaced on the list are MetLife and Analog Devices.