LOS a: Discuss cash dividends, stock dividends, stock splits, and reverse stock splits and evaluate their impact on a shareholder's wealth.

Some shareholders prefer capital gains, while others prefer dividends. Repurchases offer shareholders the choice of tendering or not tendering their stock, while cash dividends represent a payment they cannot refuse. Raising dividends is often seen as a positive signal, but an increase funded by short-term cash flows may not be sustainable, forcing the company to reduce the dividend later.

Investors view a stock repurchase as a positive signal and a stock issue as a negative signal. A repurchase may mean that management believes the stock is undervalued. To understand why a stock issue is viewed negatively, consider the following circumstances: A biotech company has a new blockbuster drug that will increase its profitability, but to produce and market the drug, the company needs to raise capital. If the company sells new stock, then as sales (and thus profits) occur, the price of the stock will rise. The current shareholders will do well but not as well as they would have had the company not sold more stock before the share price increased. Thus, it is assumed that management will prefer to finance growth with non-stock sources.

The other statements are false. A person who believes in the clientele effect and a proponent of the “bird-in-hand” theory would not have similar views on dividend policy. The clientele effect suggests that different groups of investors want different dividend levels (often based on tax status), and through the law of supply and demand, investors will select companies that meet their needs. Thus, dividend payout policy does not matter. According to the “bird-in-hand” theory, investors prefer dividends to capital appreciation because they view the former (D₁ / P₀) as less risky than the latter (g, or growth rate).

Stock dividends are dividends paid out in new shares of stock instead of cash. Unlike stock dividends, dividend reinvestment plans are at the discretion of individual shareholders. In the case of stock repurchases, the company is buying back shares so the number of shares in the investment public’s hands is declining.

Stock splits divide up each existing share into multiple shares. The price of each share will drop correspondingly to the number of shares created, so there is no change in the owner’s wealth. Empirical research has shown that in the absence of a dividend yield increase, the stock price falls to the stock split ratio of the original price (i.e., to 25% of the original price in a 4-for-1 stock split). This makes sense, given that the investor’s percentage ownership of the company has not changed.

Although there is little empirical evidence to support the contention, there is nevertheless a widespread belief in financial circles that an optimal price range exists for stocks. “Optimal” means that if the price is within this range, the price/earnings ratio, price/sales and other relevant ratios will be maximized. Hence, the value of the firm will be maximized.

A repurchase gives stockholders a choice. They can sell or not sell.