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Dividend Policy: Alex Tajirian
Dividend Policy: Alex Tajirian
Chapter 17
Alex Tajirian
Dividend Policy 17-2
1. OUTLINE
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Alex Tajirian
Dividend Policy 17-3
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3. TYPES
3.1 CASH DIVIDEND1
Dates:
|_____________|______________|___________|____
1/15 1/26 1/30 2/15
Declaration Ex-dividend Record Payment
Date Date Date Date
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Alex Tajirian
Dividend Policy 17-6
3.2 Reasons
! Alternative to "extra" or special dividend.
Example. A company just sold a division and cannot use the
proceeds for favorable investments.
! As an obstacle to takeovers.
Q If management re-purchases stocks, then the price increases,
thus prevents raiders from acquiring company at an attractive
price.
Q Greenmail
3.3 Advantages(
! Shareholders have a choice: sell shares or keep.
! Firm has no obligation to make future repurchases.
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Alex Tajirian
Dividend Policy 17-7
2.3.4 Disadvantages;
! May signal to investors that the firm's investment opportunities
are limited.
! The firm may pay too high a price for the repurchase.
Example: Greenmail
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Dividend Policy 17-8
4. DIVIDEND CONTROVERSY
THEORIES
Irrelevant, rightists (high dividend), leftists (low payoff), Middle of
the Road
4.1 IRRELEVANT
M & M in the case of perfect markets.
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Dividend Policy 17-9
4.2 RIGHTISTS
! Bird in the hand fallacy. "Paying out some cash today reduces
risk of future payoff uncertainty"
Alternatives CF1 CF2 CF CFT
1 0 0 ... 100 ...
2 20 20 ... 60 ...
! Grand Ma's argument: "I need the regular cash dividend to live
on!"
4.3 LEFTISTS
Tax argument:
Tax on dividends = tax on income $ tax on capital gains.
But tax on dividends must be paid now, while on capital gains
would be in the future.
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Alex Tajirian
Dividend Policy 17-10
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5. PRACTICAL ISSUES
! Legal Requirements:
Companies cannot keep "excess" cash as retained earnings if
no investment opportunities exist. They have to distribute them
as dividends.
! Institutional Restrictions:
Many trust portfolios are required to protect the investment
principle and can only spend investment income. Thus, they
tend to invest in companies with high dividends.
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Dividend Policy 17-13
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7. ENDNOTES
1. On recent trends, see LAT 1/27/93 p. E158. On Dividend
Reinvestment Plans (DRIPs) see LAT 2/16/93 p. E56.
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Dividend Policy 17-15
8. QUESTIONS
True\False-Explain
1. If a company has excess cash, then it should acquire another.
2. Given U.S. tax laws, the optimal dividend policy should be zero dividends.
5. If XYZ Inc. announces an increase in its dividends and the price of the stock increases on
the same day, then you can conclude that investors prefer dividend income over capital gains.
6. The 1993 tax changes (tax on dividend $ tax on capital gains) make high dividend paying
stocks more attractive to the average investor.
8. If splitting a stock increases its liquidity, then the firm necessarily benefits.
9. A 3-to-1 stock split means that for every 3 shares you currently own you end up with one.
Moreover, the new price, after the split, would be 3 times the original price.
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Dividend Policy 17-16
True\False-Explain
1. False. If the company does not have any positive NPV projects to invest in, then it
should pay shareholders dividend (either extra dividends or repurchase stock). Note,
acquiring another company in the same line of business is also considered a project.
3. True. Since dividends are defined as a distribution of wealth. Stocks have to be re-
purchased at a price higher than then market price. Thus, additional value has to be
distributed to shareholders.
4. True.
5. False. A possible explanation for the price increase might be than investors interpret the
increase as a strength in the company's future earnings prospects. Thus, they buy the
stock, this increases the demand for the stock, and thus its price goes up. An alternative
explanation, which has nothing to do with dividends, might be that the general stock
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Alex Tajirian
Dividend Policy 17-17
6. False. Actually the opposite is true. The new lax laws make high paying dividend stocks
even less attractive to the average investor.
7. False. One disadvantage of SPDRs is that dividends, from the underlying stocks, are
distributed to shareholders. An index fund, on the other hand, can devise a dividend re-
investment plan to reduce the dividend tax effect.
8. False. Liquidity in the secondary market benefits the investors not the company.
Remember the secondary market is for the exchange of ownership. It is the primary
market that is more of a concern to the firm.
9. False. With a 3-to-1 split you end up with 3 shares for each that you held. Moreover, the
new price ought to be a third of the original price.
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Alex Tajirian