Cisco Systems Stock Hands $144 Bil Back – Worth a Look?
In the last decade, Cisco Systems (CSCO) stock has returned an impressive $144 Bil back to its shareholders through cold, hard cash via dividends and buybacks. Let’s look at some numbers and compare how this payout power stacks up against the market’s biggest capital-return machines.
As it turns out, CSCO stock has returned the 12th highest amount to shareholders in history.
| CSCO | S&P Median | |
|---|---|---|
| Dividends | $60 Bil | $4.5 Bil |
| Share Repurchase | $83 Bil | $5.6 Bil |
| Total Returned | $144 Bil | $9.4 Bil |
| Total Returned as % of Current Market Cap | 48.3% | 24.6% |
Why should you care? Because dividends and share repurchases represent direct, tangible returns of capital to shareholders. They also signal management’s confidence in the company’s financial health and ability to generate sustainable cash flows. And there are more stocks like that. Here is a list of the top 10 companies ranked by total capital returned to shareholders via dividends and stock repurchases.
Top 10 Stocks By Total Shareholder Return
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| Total Money Returned | As % Of Current Market Cap | via Dividends | via Share Repurchases | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AAPL | $847 Bil | 22.0% | $141 Bil | $706 Bil |
| MSFT | $368 Bil | 10.9% | $169 Bil | $200 Bil |
| GOOGL | $357 Bil | 8.9% | $15 Bil | $342 Bil |
| XOM | $218 Bil | 39.4% | $146 Bil | $72 Bil |
| WFC | $212 Bil | 74.7% | $58 Bil | $153 Bil |
| META | $183 Bil | 11.7% | $9.1 Bil | $174 Bil |
| JPM | $181 Bil | 21.2% | $0.0 | $181 Bil |
| JNJ | $159 Bil | 30.1% | $105 Bil | $54 Bil |
| ORCL | $158 Bil | 29.1% | $35 Bil | $123 Bil |
| CVX | $157 Bil | 48.6% | $99 Bil | $58 Bil |
For full ranking, visit Buybacks & Dividends Ranking
What do you notice here? The total capital returned to shareholders as a % of the current market cap appears inversely proportional to growth prospects for reinvestments. Stocks like Meta (META) and Microsoft (MSFT) are growing much faster, in a more predictable way, compared to the others, but they have returned a much lower fraction of their market cap to shareholders.
That’s the flip side to high capital returns. Sure, they are attractive, but you have to ask yourself the question: Am I sacrificing growth and sound fundamentals? With that in mind, let’s look at some numbers for CSCO. (see Buy or Sell Cisco Systems Stock for more details)
Cisco Systems Fundamentals
- Revenue Growth: 8.9% LTM and 3.7% last 3-year average.
- Cash Generation: Nearly 22.1% free cash flow margin and 22.5% operating margin LTM.
- Recent Revenue Shocks: The minimum annual revenue growth in the last 3 years for CSCO was -8.7%.
- Valuation: Cisco Systems stock trades at a P/E multiple of 28.8
| CSCO | S&P Median | |
|---|---|---|
| Sector | Information Technology | – |
| Industry | Communications Equipment | – |
| PE Ratio | 28.8 | 24.3 |
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| LTM* Revenue Growth | 8.9% | 6.4% |
| 3Y Average Annual Revenue Growth | 3.7% | 5.7% |
| Min Annual Revenue Growth Last 3Y | -8.7% | 0.2% |
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| LTM* Operating Margin | 22.5% | 18.8% |
| 3Y Average Operating Margin | 24.2% | 18.4% |
| LTM* Free Cash Flow Margin | 22.1% | 13.5% |
*LTM: Last Twelve Months
The table gives good overview of what you get from CSCO stock, but what about the risk?
CSCO Historical Risk
Cisco isn’t immune to big drops. It lost about 86% in the Dot-Com crash and 60% during the Global Financial Crisis. Even more recent shocks hit hard — down 37% in the inflation surge, 34% during Covid, and nearly 25% in 2018’s correction. Strong company, sure, but history shows that in major sell-offs, even solid stocks like Cisco take a serious hit.
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