A Decade of Rewards: $54 Bil From United Parcel Service Stock
In the last decade, United Parcel Service (UPS) stock has returned a notable $54 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, UPS stock has returned the 51st highest amount to shareholders in history.
| UPS | S&P Median | |
|---|---|---|
| Dividends | $39 Bil | $4.5 Bil |
| Share Repurchase | $15 Bil | $5.6 Bil |
| Total Returned | $54 Bil | $9.4 Bil |
| Total Returned as % of Current Market Cap | 57.1% | 24.8% |
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
- Should You Buy Or Sell UPS Stock At $105?
- United Parcel Service Stock Has Paid Out $54 Bil to Investors in the Past Decade
- UPS Has Paid Out $54 Bil to Investors in the Past Decade
- UPS Stock Down -18% after 5-Day Loss Streak
- S&P 500 Stocks Trading At 52-Week Low
- S&P 500 Movers | Winners: GLW, INCY, CDNS | Losers: CARR, UPS, BRO
| Total Money Returned | As % Of Current Market Cap | via Dividends | via Share Repurchases | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AAPL | $874 Bil | 22.0% | $143 Bil | $731 Bil |
| MSFT | $376 Bil | 12.3% | $172 Bil | $204 Bil |
| GOOGL | $357 Bil | 8.7% | $15 Bil | $342 Bil |
| XOM | $218 Bil | 35.4% | $146 Bil | $72 Bil |
| WFC | $212 Bil | 72.0% | $58 Bil | $153 Bil |
| META | $184 Bil | 10.6% | $10 Bil | $174 Bil |
| JPM | $181 Bil | 20.8% | $0.0 | $181 Bil |
| JNJ | $159 Bil | 28.4% | $105 Bil | $54 Bil |
| ORCL | $158 Bil | 35.7% | $35 Bil | $123 Bil |
| CVX | $157 Bil | 45.4% | $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 UPS. (see Buy or Sell United Parcel Service Stock for more details)
United Parcel Service Fundamentals
- Revenue Growth: -1.3% LTM and -3.9% last 3-year average.
- Cash Generation: Nearly 4.9% free cash flow margin and 9.2% operating margin LTM.
- Recent Revenue Shocks: The minimum annual revenue growth in the last 3 years for UPS was -7.9%.
- Valuation: United Parcel Service stock trades at a P/E multiple of 17.2
| UPS | S&P Median | |
|---|---|---|
| Sector | Industrials | – |
| Industry | Air Freight & Logistics | – |
| PE Ratio | 17.2 | 24.6 |
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| LTM* Revenue Growth | -1.3% | 6.4% |
| 3Y Average Annual Revenue Growth | -3.9% | 5.6% |
| Min Annual Revenue Growth Last 3Y | -7.9% | 0.3% |
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| LTM* Operating Margin | 9.2% | 18.8% |
| 3Y Average Operating Margin | 9.5% | 18.3% |
| LTM* Free Cash Flow Margin | 4.9% | 14.0% |
*LTM: Last Twelve Months
The table gives good overview of what you get from UPS stock, but what about the risk?
UPS Historical Risk
UPS isn’t immune to big drops. It fell about 34% in the Dot-Com crash and nearly 49% during the Global Financial Crisis. The 2018 correction and Covid sell-off still knocked it down around 30% and 27%, respectively. Even the recent inflation shock took it down close to 38%. Sure, UPS has strong fundamentals, but these numbers show that no stock is completely safe when markets get turbulent.
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