Low debt buybacks
Query: Low debt buybacks sorted by buyback yield · data as of 2026-10-12
Built a "Low-Leverage Buyback Leaders" table: 45 US non-ETF stocks with total debt/equity between 0 and 0.5, ranked by buyback yield (highest first), showing symbol, company, sector, industry, D/E, buyback yield, market cap, price, TTM/forward P/E, dividend yield and 1M/6M/1Y returns, with per-row insights and a takeaway narrative on capital-return quality.
US non-ETF stocks with total debt/equity in the 0-0.5 low-leverage band, ranked by buyback yield (share repurchases as a share of market cap), as of October 12, 2026. The top of the list is dominated by cash-rich insurers, homebuilders and small/mid-cap software and internet names that have been able to fund large repurchases without leverage.
Low-Leverage Buyback Leaders
| Symbol | Company | Sector | Industry | Total Debt / Equity | Buyback Yield | Market Cap | Price | P/E (TTM) | Forward P/E | Dividend Yield | 1M Return | 6M Return | 1Y Return | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| QFIN | Qfin Holdings, Inc. | Financials | Credit Services | 0.081 | 91.97% | 7.198e+08 | 5.92 | 1.03 | 1.33 | 13.18% | -30.11% | -51.59% | -76.28% | Chinese online consumer-lending platform trading near single-digit earnings, so the enormous repurchase program is more a capital-return signal than a growth story; the risk is a China ADR re-rating plus credit-cycle deterioration in loan-book quality. |
| AMR | Alpha Metallurgical Resources, | Materials | Coking Coal | 0.012 | 49.47% | 2.353e+09 | 185.62 | — | 9.24 | 0.54% | -11.36% | -4.36% | 10.86% | Metallurgical coal producer using cycle-high cash flow to shrink the share count aggressively; buybacks are highly sensitive to coking-coal prices and steel demand, so the capital return is only as durable as the commodity cycle. |
| CNNE | Cannae Holdings, Inc. Common Stock | Consumer Discretionary | Restaurants | 0.223 | 47.55% | 6.81e+08 | 15.7 | — | — | 2.87% | 2.88% | 26.37% | -11.39% | Holding company trading well below the sum of its parts, using asset sales and a large repurchase authorization to close the discount to intrinsic value — a classic net-asset-value narrowing story that management controls the pace of. |
| YELP | Yelp Inc. | Communication Services | Internet Content & Information | 0.039 | 28.84% | 1.011e+09 | 18.63 | 9 | 5.02 | 0.00% | -12.45% | -27.73% | -40.25% | Repurchases are the primary capital-return lever for this cash-generative local-services marketplace; the key question is whether ad revenue growth can offset softness in the core restaurant vertical. |
| TBLA | Taboola.com Ltd. | Communication Services | Internet Content & Information | 0.166 | 27.40% | 9.185e+08 | 3.4 | 8.72 | 4.5 | 0.00% | -10.53% | 0.00% | 6.92% | Ad-tech name funding buybacks with steady open-web advertising cash flow; the setup hinges on whether AI-driven ad targeting can defend share against walled-garden platforms. |
| TTD | The Trade Desk, Inc. | Communication Services | Advertising Agencies | 0.178 | 24.17% | 5.645e+09 | 11.94 | 14.21 | 12 | 0.00% | -16.74% | -43.73% | -77.93% | Programmatic advertising leader initiating meaningful repurchases from a net-cash balance sheet; the debate is growth durability as large platforms and retail media take budget. |
| IBTA | Ibotta, Inc. | Information Technology | Software - Application | 0.103 | 23.29% | 9.978e+08 | 42.96 | — | 22.81 | 0.00% | 4.42% | 28.78% | 40.03% | Cash-rebate rewards platform with a fortress balance sheet buying back stock while still early in scaling; repurchase activity signals management confidence in free-cash-flow conversion. |
| MQ | Marqeta, Inc. | Information Technology | Software - Infrastructure | 0.012 | 20.76% | 1.904e+09 | 18.29 | 173.78 | 34.19 | 0.00% | 12.00% | 13.46% | -9.63% | Payments issuer-processor with heavy net cash and a depressed multiple; the buyback is aggressive relative to free cash flow, but the long-term question is how much of the card-issuing economics survive competitive pressure. |
| KBH | KB Home | Consumer Discretionary | Residential Construction | 0.0079 | 20.64% | 2.53e+09 | 41.63 | 10.13 | 9.39 | 2.40% | -15.32% | -19.19% | -26.44% | Homebuilder repurchasing at a steep discount to book; the capital-return case is strong, but the cycle risk is mortgage rates staying high enough to squeeze affordability and order trends. |
| EIG | Employers Holdings Inc | Financials | Insurance - Specialty | 0.149 | 20.60% | 8.901e+08 | 49.56 | 62.73 | 19.44 | 2.66% | -0.20% | 18.27% | 20.08% | Niche workers'-comp insurer with a long history of retiring shares; small-float, specialty-risk pricing and reserve development are the swing factors. |
| CRTO | Criteo S.A. | Communication Services | Advertising Agencies | 0.122 | 19.73% | 7.521e+08 | 15.35 | 7.21 | 4.13 | 0.00% | -11.98% | -16.26% | -25.88% | Retail-media and ad-tech name returning cash as its core retargeting business matures; buybacks are opportunistic, and a shift toward higher-margin retail-media revenue is the re-rating catalyst. |
| KMPR | Kemper Corporation | Financials | Insurance - Property & Casualty | 0.379 | 19.03% | 1.626e+09 | 27.61 | 12.06 | 6.39 | 3.48% | 1.32% | -11.99% | -41.68% | Mid-cap P&C insurer using repurchases to accelerate book-value compounding after a multi-year turnaround; auto profitability and reserve adequacy remain the key variables. |
| RUM | Rumble Inc. - Class A Common Stock | Communication Services | Internet Content & Information | 0.0063 | 18.86% | 2.736e+09 | 6.84 | — | — | 0.00% | -4.60% | 32.05% | -13.75% | Video platform with a net-cash balance sheet repurchasing stock ahead of any meaningful monetization inflection; the buyback is a bet on long-run audience value rather than current earnings. |
| ARVN | Arvinas, Inc. - Common Stock | Health Care | Biotechnology | 0.023 | 18.64% | 4.807e+08 | 7.45 | — | — | 0.00% | -11.83% | -29.58% | -22.31% | Clinical-stage biotech repurchasing shares from cash on hand rather than spending on a broad pipeline; read-through from its targeted-protein-degradation programs is what ultimately drives the stock. |
| SPB | Spectrum Brands Holdings, Inc. | Consumer Staples | Household & Personal Products | 0.426 | 18.35% | 1.773e+09 | 77.08 | 23.94 | 13.75 | 1.83% | -10.60% | -1.20% | 53.52% | Consumer-products rollup steadily deleveraging while buying back stock post divestitures; a leaner portfolio sharpens the focus on branded household categories, but the balance sheet is the tightest on this list. |
| SPNT | SiriusPoint Ltd. | Financials | Insurance - Reinsurance | 0.305 | 16.93% | 2.967e+09 | 25.54 | 6.29 | 9.25 | 0.00% | 5.54% | 12.66% | 38.05% | Reinsurer executing a large repurchase program under a new strategic direction; pricing discipline in property-catastrophe renewals and reserve cleanup are the make-or-break items. |
| AGO | Assured Guaranty Ltd. | Financials | Insurance - Specialty | 0.321 | 16.23% | 3.062e+09 | 69.62 | 9.26 | 9.81 | 1.09% | -4.54% | -14.74% | -13.75% | Financial-guaranty insurer buying back stock at a discount to adjusted book value; buybacks are the main lever for growing per-share intrinsic value as the legacy insured book runs off. |
| INMD | InMode Ltd. | Health Care | Medical Devices | 0.012 | 15.59% | 8.229e+08 | 14.3 | 11.82 | 10.42 | 0.00% | -4.03% | 2.22% | -10.01% | Aesthetic medical-device maker with heavy net cash returning capital through repurchases after a demand reset; recovery in elective procedure volumes in the US and China is the key catalyst. |
| FINV | FinVolution Group | Financials | Credit Services | 0.035 | 15.18% | 7.083e+08 | 3 | 2.4 | 2.08 | 10.20% | -11.76% | -35.94% | -54.36% | Chinese consumer-finance platform combining a high dividend with share repurchases; regulatory stance toward the sector and credit costs are the dominant risks. |
| ODD | ODDITY Tech Ltd. | Consumer Staples | Household & Personal Products | 0.059 | 15.13% | 9.954e+08 | 21.58 | 27.32 | 21.57 | 0.00% | 18.05% | 51.01% | -58.20% | Direct-to-consumer beauty platform with minimal leverage using buybacks to offset dilution; the investment case rests on international expansion and retention in a competitive skincare market. |
| AIG | American International Group, I | Financials | Insurance - Diversified | 0.249 | 14.49% | 4.063e+10 | 77.7 | 14.18 | 8.85 | 1.80% | 3.83% | 1.16% | -4.28% | Large-cap insurer running one of the biggest buybacks in the market as it returns excess capital from underwriting and investment gains; the buyback is the core per-share earnings driver. |
| BL | BlackLine, Inc. | Information Technology | Software - Application | 0.08 | 13.61% | 1.703e+09 | 29.3 | 52.32 | 10.54 | 0.00% | 3.35% | -8.55% | -42.12% | Financial-close automation software vendor with modest debt funding repurchases; the story depends on stabilizing net revenue retention as it pivots to new growth products. |
| IBEX | IBEX Limited | Information Technology | Information Technology Services | 0.385 | 13.20% | 5.94e+08 | 44.73 | 13.98 | 12.34 | 0.00% | 12.39% | 57.11% | 16.00% | Offshore customer-experience provider buying back stock with strong cash conversion; buybacks signal confidence, but concentration in a few large clients is the principal risk. |
| RWT | Redwood Trust, Inc. | Real Estate | REIT - Mortgage | 0.01 | 13.02% | 3.844e+08 | 3.06 | — | 2.78 | 17.65% | -9.85% | -44.39% | -36.60% | Mortgage REIT repurchasing shares at a deep discount to book while carrying a high dividend; rate volatility and spread widening are the main threats to book value. |
| PLGO | Pelagos Insurance Capital Limit | Financials | Insurance - Diversified | 0.38 | 13.01% | 2.038e+09 | 24.63 | 6.11 | 6.31 | 1.22% | -1.68% | 24.43% | 37.29% | Insurance-focused holding company using repurchases alongside dividends; the investment thesis is capital allocation toward a diversified underwriting and asset-management platform. |
| AXS | Axis Capital Holdings Limited | Financials | Insurance - Specialty | 0.017 | 12.58% | 7.101e+09 | 97.32 | 6.93 | 7.15 | 0.90% | -0.48% | -1.87% | 1.87% | Specialty insurer with a rebuilt balance sheet returning capital via buybacks; sustained pricing in casualty lines and reserve discipline are the swing factors. |
| VISN | Vistance Networks, Inc. | Information Technology | Communication Equipment | 0.014 | 12.54% | 1.402e+09 | 6.08 | 0.63 | 8.74 | 164.47% | -6.17% | 13.25% | 41.65% | Small-cap communications-equipment name pairing a very large payout with buybacks; the valuation anomaly reflects either deep value or unresolved questions about revenue durability. |
| CART | Maplebear Inc. | Consumer Discretionary | Internet Retail | 0.015 | 12.23% | 1.135e+10 | 47.83 | 26.14 | 9.77 | 0.00% | -1.85% | 19.63% | 22.36% | Grocery-delivery platform repurchasing aggressively from net cash; the buyback is opportunistic, and the true driver is whether the delivery economics keep improving with scale. |
| DD | DuPont de Nemours, Inc. | Materials | Specialty Chemicals | 0.223 | 12.21% | 1.747e+10 | 129.37 | 55.52 | 16.24 | 1.39% | 1.87% | -8.18% | 34.15% | Specialty-chemicals company using buybacks to boost per-share returns after portfolio separation; buybacks amplify the swing in earnings tied to industrial and electronics demand. |
| CTVA | Corteva, Inc. | Materials | Agricultural Inputs | 0.086 | 12.12% | 8.874e+09 | 13.3 | 8.06 | 3.23 | 4.06% | -84.15% | -84.00% | -78.61% | Agricultural-inputs producer with low leverage returning cash through repurchases; seed and crop-protection pricing into the next planting cycle drives the capital-return capacity. |
| CXM | Sprinklr, Inc. | Information Technology | Software - Application | 0.09 | 11.88% | 1.284e+09 | 5.53 | 46.08 | 10.16 | 0.00% | 0.91% | 1.65% | -27.62% | Customer-experience software vendor buying back stock despite a soft growth patch; the buyback signals confidence in cash flow, while AI monetization is the re-acceleration lever. |
| GPOR | Gulfport Energy Corporation | Energy | Oil & Gas E&P | 0.456 | 11.69% | 2.917e+09 | 164.96 | 6.27 | 5.9 | 0.00% | -4.78% | -16.69% | -10.44% | Natural-gas producer using free cash flow for both debt reduction and repurchases; the case is highly sensitive to gas prices and to basin-level operating execution. |
| RNR | RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. | Financials | Insurance - Reinsurance | 0.215 | 11.62% | 1.408e+10 | 338.87 | 5.88 | 8.27 | 0.24% | 4.40% | 10.37% | 31.15% | Reinsurance powerhouse returning large amounts of capital through repurchases; capacity discipline in property-catastrophe reinsurance underpins both earnings and buyback capacity. |
| NVR | NVR, Inc. | Consumer Discretionary | Residential Construction | 0.053 | 11.60% | 1.54e+10 | 5,750 | 14.94 | 13.97 | 0.00% | -6.67% | -15.21% | -24.53% | Homebuilder with a long track record of buying back stock at discount valuations; the per-share compounding is genuine, but housing affordability and rate levels cap the upside. |
| SAM | Boston Beer Company, Inc. (The) | Consumer Staples | Beverages - Brewers | 0.057 | 11.54% | 1.802e+09 | 175.09 | 17.7 | 16.65 | 0.00% | 1.47% | -27.99% | -22.71% | Premium craft brewer with a net-cash balance sheet repurchasing after a demand slowdown; buybacks are a confident capital allocation signal, though hard-seltzer and craft softness need to stabilize. |
| DHI | D.R. Horton, Inc. | Consumer Discretionary | Residential Construction | 0.003 | 11.40% | 3.756e+10 | 134.29 | 12.8 | 11.41 | 1.34% | -2.61% | -5.31% | -20.77% | Volume homebuilder with one of the strongest balance sheets in the sector returning cash through repurchases; the buyback offsets industry-wide order softness. |
| EPAM | EPAM Systems, Inc. | Information Technology | Information Technology Services | 0.083 | 11.34% | 5.831e+09 | 113.04 | 15.34 | 8.04 | 0.00% | -4.13% | -9.56% | -24.91% | IT-services provider shipping work to lower-cost regions while repurchasing shares; the risk is client IT budget caution, particularly in its European and financial-services exposure. |
| NRDS | NerdWallet, Inc. | Communication Services | Internet Content & Information | 0.024 | 11.28% | 6.277e+08 | 9.82 | 10.91 | 4.77 | 0.00% | 4.14% | -7.79% | -7.79% | Personal-finance marketplace using buybacks from a debt-free balance sheet; the thesis depends on insurance and credit-card lead volumes holding up through the consumer-credit cycle. |
| FLR | Fluor Corporation | Industrials | Engineering & Construction | 0.373 | 11.12% | 6.648e+09 | 49.71 | — | 14.77 | 0.00% | -8.28% | 0.30% | 14.25% | Engineering-and-construction firm returning capital via buybacks with modest leverage; order backlog in energy transition and government contracts determines the upside. |
| LULU | lululemon athletica inc. | Consumer Discretionary | Apparel Retail | 0.373 | 10.77% | 1.096e+10 | 94.66 | 7.66 | 8.41 | 0.00% | -4.35% | -41.77% | -45.43% | Athletic-apparel leader repurchasing stock after a sharp multiple reset; buybacks look opportunistic but hinge on North America demand and brand-heat recovery against new competitors. |
| FRSH | Freshworks Inc. | Information Technology | Software - Application | 0.038 | 10.64% | 3.632e+09 | 13.92 | 22.1 | 16.71 | 0.00% | 17.07% | 76.43% | 22.11% | Customer-support software vendor with a net-cash balance sheet buying back aggressively; the repurchase is a value signal and offsets SBC dilution in a decelerating growth environment. |
| ESNT | Essent Group Ltd. | Financials | Insurance - Specialty | 0.0064 | 10.46% | 5.544e+09 | 61.68 | 8.6 | 7.85 | 1.14% | -9.53% | 1.63% | 5.84% | Mortgage insurer repurchasing stock at a discount to book while credit trends stay benign; the key risk is a housing-credit downturn eroding the very reserves funding the buyback. |
| FVRR | Fiverr International Ltd. | Communication Services | Internet Content & Information | 0.01 | 10.38% | 3.099e+08 | 8.62 | 10.64 | 6.58 | 0.00% | -4.54% | -15.41% | -63.33% | Freelance-services marketplace with a clean balance sheet repurchasing shares; buybacks are a confidence signal during a difficult spending environment for small businesses. |
| PPLI | People Incorporated | Communication Services | Internet Content & Information | 0.356 | 10.35% | 3.043e+09 | 40.86 | 6.91 | 14.94 | 0.00% | 8.93% | 0.00% | 22.30% | Internet-content business using buybacks to support per-share value; the sustainability of repurchases rests on cash generation in a highly competitive attention market. |
| YETI | YETI Holdings, Inc. | Consumer Discretionary | Leisure | 0.345 | 10.25% | 2.847e+09 | 39.01 | 17.11 | 11.59 | 0.00% | -3.10% | 5.80% | 17.61% | Outdoor-cooler brand with moderate leverage returning cash via repurchases; the setup improves if drinkware and outdoor-demand trends stabilize from post-pandemic normalization. |
Takeaway
What this screen shows
This is a capital-return quality screen: companies that carry very little financial leverage (total debt less than half of equity) yet are retiring a meaningful share of their market cap each year. Buyback yield is used as the ranking metric, so the list skews toward businesses whose repurchase programs are large relative to their size — insurers, homebuilders, small/mid-cap software, ad-tech and a handful of offshore internet names.
Why low leverage matters here. A buyback funded from cash flow on a clean balance sheet is a durable, repeatable return of capital. A buyback funded with debt is a leverage bet that magnifies the downside if earnings roll over. In an environment where refinancing costs have re-priced higher for the long tail of debt-heavy companies, unlevered repurchasers are structurally advantaged.
Sector skew. Financials (especially specialty insurers and reinsurers) and Consumer Discretionary (homebuilders) dominate the top of the list. Insurers are in a mature return-of-capital phase with underwriting profits and investment income supporting both buybacks and dividends; homebuilders are repurchasing stock at discounts to book while managing a rate-sensitive demand backdrop. Communication Services and Information Technology account for most of the higher-growth names — smaller companies with net cash where buybacks signal management's view on their own valuation and offset stock-based comp dilution.
How to read it. Buyback yield is backward-looking (it uses the last fiscal year's repurchases) and can be lumpy — a single large tender or accelerated program can inflate it. Pair each name with its forward P/E and dividend yield to judge whether the capital return is embedded in the price, and use the trailing returns to see where the market has already punished the group: many names here have deeply negative 1-year returns, which is precisely where buybacks at low multiples can compound per-share value if the underlying business stabilizes.
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