The Behavior and Timing of Corporate Buybacks: New Evidence From Repurchase Series

Abstract

This study provides important new insights into the behavior and timing of actual corporate share repurchases. The key distinction from prior research is that I account for the continuance of share repurchases: almost 95% of firm-months with a repurchase are not individual repurchase events but rather occur as part of a series of repurchase events in close proximity. Abnormal returns are two to three times as large surrounding repurchase series versus individual repurchases, and negative (positive) abnormal returns are concentrated before (after) repurchase series begin (end). These findings have important implications for future research on actual share repurchases.