Dividend Changes and Stock Price Informativeness
49 Pages Posted: 20 Nov 2017
Date Written: August 20, 2015
Abstract
We investigate how private information in stock prices impacts quarterly dividend changes. We find that the positive relationship between past returns and current dividend changes strengthens when returns convey more private information. This finding is robust to the use of several price informativeness measures and the inclusion of managerial private information and stock overvaluation measures. Managers seem to learn new information from stock prices that they use when deciding on their dividend policy. This study highlights private information in stock prices as an important determinant of dividend policy and contributes to the literature on the real effects of financial markets.
Keywords: Dividend changes, Stock price informativeness, Stock returns
JEL Classification: G35 G14
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation