Nope, you're absolutely right. The main difference between stock buybacks and dividends are the tax implications – and what they signal to the market.
Dividends tend to be "sticky" since changing them all the time gives investors little certainty over what they should expect to receive (and if there's anything investors like is certainty)
Buybacks signal management (a) has no better source for capital and (b) probably thinks the stock is currently undervalued (i.e. it's a good time to buy back cheap shares).
Companies very often do not have projects to invest with a return higher than their cost of capital, and any reasonable CFO who finds themselves on that position should pay back its equity holders who risked their money by investing in this company with a given expectation on returns
Dividends tend to be "sticky" since changing them all the time gives investors little certainty over what they should expect to receive (and if there's anything investors like is certainty)
Buybacks signal management (a) has no better source for capital and (b) probably thinks the stock is currently undervalued (i.e. it's a good time to buy back cheap shares).
Companies very often do not have projects to invest with a return higher than their cost of capital, and any reasonable CFO who finds themselves on that position should pay back its equity holders who risked their money by investing in this company with a given expectation on returns