Academic literature on the topic 'Dividend payout ratio'

The dividend payout policy is one of the most debated topics within corporate finance and some academics have called the company’s dividend payout policy an unsolved puzzle. Even though an extensive amount of research regarding dividends has been conducted, there is no uniform answer to the question: what are the determinants of the companies’ dividend payout ratios? We therefore decided to conduct a study regarding the determinants of the companies’ dividend payout ratios on large and medium cap on Stockholm stock exchange. The purpose of the study is to determine if there is a relationship between a number of company selected factors and the companies’ dividend payout ratios. A second purpose is to determine whether there are any differences between large and medium caps regarding the impact of the company selected factors. We therefore reviewed previous studies and dividend theories in order to conclude which factors that potentially could have an impact on the companies’ dividend payout ratios. Based on the literature, we decided to test the relationship between the dividend payout ratio and six company selected factors: free cash flow, growth, leverage, profit, risk and size. The data used in the research are secondary data collected during a time period of five years, between 2006 and 2010. The study follows a quantitative research method with a deductive approach and we have based the study on four dividend theories: the dividend irrelevance theory, the bird in hand theory, the signaling theory and the agency theory. In order to determine whether there is a relationship between the companies selected factors and the dividend payout ratio we conducted both an Ordinary least square (OLS) and a Tobit regression. Multicollinearity tests were also conducted in order to ascertain that no multicollinearity affected the results of the study. The results indicate that some of the company selected factors have an impact on the companies’ dividend payout ratios and there are some differences between large and medium caps. The dividend payout ratios of large caps have a significant relationship to free cash flow, growth and risk. While the dividend payout ratios of medium caps have a significant relationship to free cash flow, leverage, risk and size.

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Traditionally, it has been widely accepted that current reinvestments leads to future growth, and hence that there exists a negative relationship between dividend payout ratios and subsequent earnings growth at both the company and market level. Surprisingly, more recent research found a positive relationship between these two variables, rationalised in terms of management signalling positive future prospects through higher dividend payouts. Following the methodology developed by Arnott and Asness (2003), this study conducted an analysis in to which hypothesis is supported at the market level (proxied by the All Share Index) in South Africa, and how these findings compared to international market level findings. Furthermore, the findings were analysed within the context of the political and economic conditions unique to the South African market over the 1960-2014 study period. The results indicated a negative relationship between the payout ratio and subsequent earnings growth from 1960 to 2014. When the time period was subdivided into periods before and after 1994 (a year considered to be a structural break in South African political-economic history), a positive relationship was found from 1960-1994, while a negative relationship was found from 1994-2014. The possible explanations for this contradiction were investigated. For the counterintuitive pre-1994 result, several literature-based tests were conducted in order to eliminate possible explanations other than the link between payout ratio and earnings growth. Firstly, the tests were repeated for three and five year earnings growth periods. With regard to the five year period, although the coefficient for the payout ratio was positive from 1960-2014, the results were statistically insignificant. The subdivided regression periods, 1960-1994 and 1994-2014, also indicated less significant results. For the three year earnings growth period, the regression test generated positive coefficients for the payout ratio variable for all the time periods, with both sub-periods being statistically significant. The difference between the ten and three year subsequent earnings growth findings may have been as a result of South Africa companies making better long-term (ten year) than short-term (three year) investments during that time period. In addition, the possible impact of share repurchases, earnings yields as earnings growth predictors (i.e. the market valuation impact), and the possible role of mean reversion were all either considered, or statistically tested. Although the former two played no role, it was found that mean reversion was a statistically stronger predictor of future earnings growth on the index level than payout ratio. As the above result s differ not only from most (but not all) international studies, and also from the one company-level study previously conducted for South Africa, these differences were further investigated. In terms of the latter, it was found that the most likely reason for the discrepancy was that the previous researcher, who confined her study to JSE-listed industrial stocks, used nominal earnings growth data as opposed to real growth data. It is argued that this is an incorrect approach. Nonetheless, given that means reversion is as good, if not a better, predictor of earnings growth at the market level in South Africa, the traditional hypothesis that a higher payout ratio implies reduced future earnings growth, cannot be ruled out for the JSE.

The dividend payout policy is a very debated topic, in this thesis the differences between Sweden and Vietnam will be examined. By examine two different countries with more or less the same landmass, but regarding economic, culture and politics they differ highly.   The purpose of this study was to determine whether there were a difference between the countries in dividend payout ratios, to see if the countries payout a high or a low dividend during the years 2005 to 2012. The second purpose was to examine if there was a significant differences in the movements in the markets. The third purpose was to examine how the two countries acted during the financial crisis, if the dividend payout ratio changed. This may tell how the policies in the two countries differ and how long term or short term the firms within the countries were planning and which kind of investors they are attracting. The data being used is collected historical data from firms with in each of the countries. The thesis follows a quantitative research method based on a deductive and an inductive approach. The research design is comparative for examination of two the countries data samples and for the purposes descriptive and explanatory studies have been done. In order to determine whether there is a relationship between the countries dividend payout ratio, the normality of the data sample have been examined, showing that the data were not normal distributed. Therefor the data were examined with a Mann- Whitney test and by a Kruskal- Wallis test.   The result indicates that there is a difference between the countries in dividend payout ratios in the case of Vietnam and Sweden under the years 2005 to 2012. Comparing countries together between the years to determine possible differences, the dividend payout ratio was insignificant in 2005 to 2008, but significant in the years 2009 to 2012. The examination of Vietnam and Sweden separately with years as factors the dividend payouts in Vietnam showed a significant difference but an insignificant result in Sweden during the year 2005 to 2008. Further, the results showed that there is a difference between the years in Sweden between 2009 to 2012 but no differences in Vietnam under the same years.

Mestrado em Finanças<br>Neste estudo pretendemos estudar se as mudanças de CEO influenciam a política de dividendos das empresas. Este trabalho é motivado pela extensiva conceptualização e análise empírica de que as mudanças de CEO e a política de dividendos têm sido alvo ao longo dos anos. No entanto, a nosso conhecimento, não existe até agora literatura empírica que relacione mudanças de CEO com política de dividendos. Por isso, com este estudo pretendemos contribuir para um tópico que ainda não foi estudado. Os dados usados neste estudo contêm 394 empresas cotadas no S&P 500 Index com um período de amostra entre 2004 e 2017. Os resultados da análise feita sugerem que mudanças de CEO aumentam o rendimento dos dividendos das empresas em 0.2%. Além disso, mudanças de CEO que ocorrem entre 2008 e 2012 têm um efeito positivo no rendimento dos dividendos de 0.5% e levam a uma diminuição dos dividendos pagos pelas empresas. Durante esta crise financeira, o preço por ação é mais volátil, por isso, quando uma empresa anuncia a mudança de CEO, os mercados vão reagir de uma forma mais drástica, resultando num preço por ação ainda mais baixo, aumentando, ainda mais, o rendimento dos dividendos. Os resultados também referem que a mudança de CEO tem um efeito positivo nos dividendos por ação e no rendimento dos dividendos depois da crise financeira. Assim, na prática este trabalho evidencia, pela primeira vez, que a mudança de CEO tem um impacto significativo na política de dividendos.<br>In this research, we aim to assess whether CEO turnover influences firms' dividend policy. This work is motivated by the extensive conceptualisation and empirical research that CEO turnover and dividend policy have been subject to throughout the years. However, to the best of our knowledge, there is no empirical literature that links CEO turnover and dividend policy, so far. Therefore, with this study we intend to contribute to an unexplored topic. The data used in this study contains 394 firms listed in the S&P 500 Index with a sample period between 2004 and 2017. The empirical evidence suggests that CEO turnover increases firms' dividend yield by 0.2%. Moreover, CEO turnover that occurs during 2008 and 2012 has a positive effect on the dividend yield of 0.5%, although it leads to a decrease in the dividends paid by firms. During the financial crisis stock prices are more volatile, therefore, when a firm announces a CEO turnover, the market reacts less smoothly and may lead to even lower stock prices, increasing, even more, the dividend yields. Evidence also indicates that CEO turnover has a positive effect on dividend per share and dividend yield after the financial crisis. Thus, this work contributes to practice since evidences, for the first time, that CEO turnover has a significant impact on dividend policy.<br>info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

The aim of this study is to examine the dividend policy behavior of firms listed at Stockholm Stock Exchange from 2005-2011. We examine the behavior from a Market Cap (firm size) and industry classification (group characteristics) perspective due to the structure of Stockholm Stock Exchange, by using non-parametric methods and Lintner`s model. The conclusions are as follows: (i) Market Cap listing and industry classification matters for the propensity to pay dividends and we observe that firms in Mid Cap and Small Cap were more likely to pay dividends in 2011 than in 2005. (ii) Neither Market Cap listing nor industry classification affects the firms’ payout ratio. (iii) Market Cap listing affects the firms´ level of paid DPS (dividend per share) but not significantly when we compared firms in Large Cap to firms in Mid Cap. Industry classification affects the firms´ level of paid DPS. (iv) Current EPS (earnings per share) and past DPS are important factors for deciding current DPS when firms were classified into Market Caps, but not for all firms when they were classified into industries. (v) Firms follow regular but unstable dividend policies despite Market Cap listing. Firms in the Health Care industry follow irregular and unstable dividend policies while the firms in the other industries follow regular but unstable dividend policies.

This study investigates the relationship between corporate sustainability and dividend policy in the Nordic countries. In the field of finance, the importance of corporate sustainability is growing, particularly in the Nordic countries, which excel in global sustainability rankings. In response to this occurrence many firms are increasingly incorporating sustainability into their operations, which in turn might affect the strategic decisions of these firms. One of these is the dividend policy decision. Dividend policy in the form of cash dividends is a central concept in finance and is affected by conservation of capital and time value of money. The purpose of this study is to clarify the relationship between sustainability and dividend policy, which the authors have done by including different theoretical arguments. These are grounded in the agency theory, the signaling theory and the stakeholder theory. Previous research such as Benlemlih (2019) has examined the relationship between sustainability and dividends, but not in the same regional setting. ESG is used as a proxy for sustainability, while two proxies are used for dividend policy; dividend payout ratio and dividend yield. Through a quantitative approach information is collected on the ESG score and dividend data using the Thomson Reuters Eikon database and then analyzed using regression analysis. The data spans over 10 years (2008-2018) and covers 117 firms with available ESG and dividend payout data.  The findings indicate that there is a significant relationship between the ESG score and the dividend payout ratio of Nordic firms, while the dividend yield has no relationship with the ESG score. As both measurements had positive coefficients, the authors determined that there is a positive relationship between sustainability and dividend policy. Based on the findings, the excess liquidity hypothesis was dismissed, while the authors concluded that there was support for and against the overinvesting hypothesis and the signaling hypothesis. The authors believe one possible explanation for these mixed results could be due to the regional setting, as it differs from the settings of previous studies. By illustrating the relationship between corporate sustainability and dividend policy, this study could be of interest to large and medium sized firms in the Nordic countries that use business strategies involving ESG practices or consider implementing such strategies. Similarly, it could be used by investors that use ESG-screening as a decision criterion when investing.

Uppsatsen undersöker om det finns ett samband mellan företags aktieutdelningar och investeringsverksamhet. Urvalet för studien är de 30 största företagen noterade på Nasdaq OMX Stockholm för perioden 2000-2012. Företagen har valts med hänsyn till börsvärde i syfte att utröna eventuella skillnader för företagsstorlek samt branschtillhörighet. Studien finner negativa signifikanta samband mellan utdelningsandelen och investeringsverksamheten för studiens små företag samt för företag inom industrisektorn.<br>The paper examines whether there is a correlation between corporate dividends and investments. The sample for the study is the 30 largest companies listed on the Nasdaq OMX Stockholm for the period 2000-2012. The companies have been chosen based by their market capitalization in order to determine any differences in company size and industry affiliation. For small companies and for companies in the industrial sector, the study finds significant negative correlation between the payout ratio and investment activities.

Utdelningspolitik är ett ämne inom finansieringsområdet som har varit flitigt omdiskuterat under många år. Huruvida branschen som företaget är verksam inom har en inverkan på utdelningspolitiken eller inte är ett område som det finns relativt lite forskning inom. Forskare är oense om branschen påverkar företagens utdelningsbeslut. Vissa hävdar att det finns branscheffekter vilket gör att företagens utdelningspolitik påverkas av branschen och som resulterar i att utdelning tenderar att se olika ut mellan branscher. Det finns också forskare som exempelvis Higgins (1972) som påstår motsatsen och menar att branschen inte har någon större påverkan utan att företagen bestämmer utdelningspolitiken utifrån deras egen situation. Uppsatsens syfte är att undersöka om det finns skillnader i utdelningspolitiken i sex olika branscher som jämförts. Det har gjorts genom att analysera utdelningsandelen från totalt 52 företag på OMX Stockholm under tidsperioden 2001-2011. För att jämföra om det finns skillnader mellan branscherna så har ett hypotestest och en regressionsanalys genomförts. Resultatet av undersökningen pekar på att det inte finns några skillnader mellan de undersökta branscherna, vilket tyder på en avsaknad av branscheffekter i utdelningspolitiken.<br>Payout policy is a controversial topic within corporate finance that has been discussed extensively for many years. Whether the industry that companies operate in has an impact on payout policy is an area that is less clear. Some researchers argue that there exist industry effects, which means that companies’ payout policy is influenced by the industries. On the contrary, there are also other researchers like Higgins (1972) who claim that industries do not have any impact on companies’ payout policy. Instead, companies decide the payout policy based on their own circumstances. This study aims to examine if there are any differences in payout policy among six different industries. By comparing the payout ratios of 52 companies from OMX Stockholm during the period 2001-2011, a hypothesis test and a regression analysis were performed. The result of the study indicates that there are no differences among these industries, which suggests a lack of industry effects in payout policy.

Vi undersöker om det finns ett samband mellan utländskt ägande och utdelningsnivå i svenska företag. Urvalet består av de 40 största företagen på Nasdaq OMX Stockholm under perioden 1999-2006. Studien visar att det finns ett negativt samband mellan utländskt ägande och direktavkastning, samt ett positivt samband mellan börsvärde och utländskt ägande. Vidare analys visar inget signifikant samband mellan utländskt ägande och börsvärde, samband beror således på mellanliggande variabler. Studien finner inget samband mellan utdelningsandel och utländskt ägande.<br>In this paper we examine the relationship between foreign ownership in Swedish firms and dividend yield amongst the 40 largest firms on Nasdaq OMX Stockholm between the years 1999-2006. We find evidence of a negative relation between foreign ownership and dividend yield, and furthermore a relation between foreign ownership and market capitalization. Further analysis shows that foreign ownership does not relate to market capitalization, thus the relation is due to intermediate variables. The paper finds no relation between payout ratio and foreign ownership.