PKW - Stock buybacks rebound in Q3 but still short of pre-pandemic levels

Like the U.S. economy as a whole, stock buybacks are recovering from Q2, when COVID-19 roiled financial markets, but haven't yet returned to pre-pandemic levels.S&P 500 companies repurchased $101.8B of their shares in Q3 2020, up 14.8% from Q2's $88.7B but down 42.1% from Q3 2019's $175.9B.For Q4 2020, buybacks are expected to continue to rebound as more issues venture in to cover employee options, said S&P Dow Jones Indices."After pulling back on buybacks in Q2 2020, some companies have tiptoed back into the market as they sought shares to cover employee options being exercised and prevent dilution," said Howard Silverblatt, senior index analyst at S&P Dow Jones Indices.For the rolling 12-month period ending Sept. 30, 2020, companies spent $570.8B, down 25.9% from the $770.1B they spent in the 12-month September 2019 period.The top 20 issues accounted for 77.4% of all buybacks, down from the record 87.2% in Q2 and up from

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Stock buybacks rebound in Q3, but still short of pre-pandemic levels