Investing.com - European equities have been in demand this year, and Barclays sees more upside as rising share buybacks offer a rising tailwind for the region.
The European benchmark Stoxx 600 index is currently up more than 6% year to date, helped by share repurchase announcements being notably up, saud analysts at Barclays, in a note dated April 24, led by Financials, Energy and Cyclicals.
“It is likely a sign of companies' growing confidence on their earnings prospects and balance sheet fundamentals,” the bank noted.
That said, only a third of the announced amount has been executed thus far, and with the blackout period peaking this week, resuming buybacks could help lift stocks further.
“Net equity issuance is currently depressed given anaemic primary market activity and rising buybacks, so share count is shrinking at the fastest pace in 20 years. In our view, it means the supply-demand balance is supportive of equities, contrasting with government bonds, which have to absorb heavy issuance again this year,” analysts at the U.K. bank added.
Buyback strategies have outperformed over the long run, Barclays said, and have been a large contributor to overall market returns in the U.S. since the global financial crisis.
In Europe, dividends remain the largest share of cash to shareholders, but buybacks are catching up.
“The majority of companies announcing buybacks in Europe trade at a discount relative to the market. However, they have recently started to show a small re-rating, which suggests buybacks may work at signalling valuations that have fallen too low,” Barclays added.