Chapter 10 Picking the Equity Players

1. Chapter 10Picking the Equity Players

2. You buy a stock, and when it goes up, you sell it. If it doesn’t go up, don’t buy it. - Will Rogers

3. Outline • Introduction • Stock selection philosophy • Dividends and why they really do not matter • Investment styles • Categories of stock

4. Introduction • Today’s focus is toward the overall characteristics of portfolios • What principles in security selection are particularly important in the construction and management of a portfolio? • What are the principal categories of common stock? • What are dividends? • What is preferred stock?

5. Stock Selection Philosophy • Fundamental analysis • Technical analysis

6. Fundamental Analysis • A fundamental analyst tries to discern the logical worth of a security based on its anticipated earnings stream • The fundamental analyst considers: • Financial statements • Industry conditions • Prospects for the economy • Etc.

7. Technical Analysis • A technical analyst attempts to predict the supply and demand for a stock by observing the past series of stock prices • Financial statements and market conditions are of secondary importance to the technical analyst

8. Dividends and Why They Really Do Not Matter • Types of dividends • Issues surrounding the payment of dividends • Why dividends do not matter • Theory versus practice • Stock splits versus stock dividends

9. Types of Dividends • Cash dividends • Stock dividends • Property dividends • Spin-offs • Rights

10. Cash Dividends • Cash dividends are distributions of the firm’s profits to the shareholders paid via a check from the company • Cash dividends can sometimes be reinvested via dividend reinvestment plans (DRIPs) • Sometimes allow for purchase of additional company shares at a discount

11. Cash Dividends (cont’d) • If shares are held in street name: • The brokerage firm receives the dividend check • The brokerage firm may automatically transfer funds to a money market account • The brokerage firm ultimately allocates dividends to the shareholders

12. Cash Dividends (cont’d) • If the portfolio manager receives the dividend check: • The funds are temporarily invested in a money market instrument until: • They accumulate sufficiently to finance the purchase of more securities or • They are paid as income to the fund beneficiary

13. Stock Dividends • Stock dividends are paid in additional shares of stock rather than in cash • Typically announced as a percentage • E.g., 10 percent stock dividends • Popular when a firm lacks the funds to pay a cash dividend • Popular early in the firm’s life cycle

14. Property Dividends • A property dividend is the distribution of physical goods to shareholders • E.g. a firm’s products • Property dividends are rare

15. Spin-Offs • In a spin-off, a parent firm divests itself of a subsidiary and distributes all shares in the subsidiary proportionally to the parent firm’s shareholders • The parent gives away the subsidiary • Spin-offs are rare

16. Rights • The preemptive right means shareholders have the ability to maintain the same percentage share of ownership in a corporation when the firm sells new shares • Existing shareholders can buy new stock at a discount from market price

17. Rights (cont’d) • Rights are actual securities that shareholders can buy or sell • Rights have a limited life • Usually expire a few weeks after issued

18. Rights (cont’d) • Shareholders can do three things with rights: • Sell the rights to someone else • Use the rights to buy more share • Allow the rights to expire • Like throwing away money

19. Issues Surrounding the Payment of Dividends • Chronology of events • Dividend growth rates

20. Chronology of Events • Date of declaration • The day the board announces the dividend • Once declared, the dividend becomes a legal liability of the company • Date of payment • The company mails dividend checks

21. Chronology of Events (cont’d) • Date of record • Establishes who will receive dividend checks • Shareholders of record are listed on the company records as being owners of the company on the date of record

22. Chronology of Events (cont’d) • Ex-dividend date • Two business days prior to the date of record • If you buy the stock before the ex-dividend date, you will get the next dividend • If you buy the stock on the ex-dividend date, you will not get the next dividend • Eliminates any ambiguity about who is entitled to the dividend

23. Chronology of Events (cont’d) Example Consider the following dividend announcement by AECI (a specialty chemical company) on August 2, 2000: Notice is hereby given that an interim dividend of 30 cents per share, in respect of the year ending 31 December 2000, has been declared to holders of ordinary shares registered in the books of the Company at the close of business on 18 August 2000. Payment will be made from the office of the transfer secretaries in Johannesburg on 27 September 2000. Identify the four relevant dividend dates.

24. Chronology of Events (cont’d) Example (cont’d) Solution: The date of declaration is August 2, 2000. The date of record is August 18, 2000. The date of payment is September 27, 2000. The ex-dividend date is August 16, 2000.

25. Dividend Growth Rates • Corporations like to establish predictable dividend payout patterns including an annual increase in their dividends • Many fundamental analysts focus on the dividend growth rate to determine value

26. Dividend Growth Rates (cont’d) • The dividend discount model:

27. Dividend Growth Rates (cont’d) • You can solve for the required rate of return, k: • Observe the current dividend and price • Obtain the growth rate using historical information and analysts’ estimates • Solve for k:

28. Dividend Growth Rates (cont’d) Example Assume a company just paid a dividend of $1.20 per share. Historically, the company has increased its dividends by 3 percent annually with great consistency. No analyst estimates regarding the next dividend are available. The firm’s current stock price is $20 per share. What is an estimate of the required rate of return for this stock?

29. Dividend Growth Rates (cont’d) Example (cont’d) Solution: Using the numbers in the dividend discount model:

30. Why Dividends Do Not Matter • Payment of dividends reduces the balance in the firm’s cash account • The firm should not be worth as much after paying a dividend • The ex-dividend date determines whether or not you get the dividend • On the ex-dividend date, the price of a share of stock tends to fall by about the amount of the dividend to be paid

31. Theory Versus Practice • Dividend policy is very important in practice • Unexpected changes in dividend policy can result in significant changes in the market price of the associated common stock

32. Theory Versus Practice (cont’d) • Most firms increase their dividend annually, and the market expects this • If management does not increase the dividend as expected, the market views it as bad news • Reducing or omitting a dividend is a very bad signal • An increase in dividends above what the market expects is a good signal

33. Stock Splits Versus Stock Dividends • Stock splits • Why stock splits do not matter • Why firms split their stock • Stock dividends

34. Stock Splits • A stock split occurs when a firm changes the number of shares of its capital stock without changing the aggregate value of these shares • A stock split is generally a neutral occurrence • The primary motivation is to reduce the price of shares to bring it into an optimal trading range

35. Stock Splits (cont’d) • In a forward split (regular way split or direct split), shareholders receive more shares as a result of the split • E.g., a two-for-one split • In a reverse split, the number of shares is reduced • E.g., 1-for-10 split

36. Stock Splits (cont’d) • Odd lot-generating splits are stock split likely to result in many small investors holding odd lots • E.g., a 3-for-2 split

37. Why Stock Splits Do Not Matter • Stock splits neither increase nor decrease investor’s wealth • You cannot increase the total amount available by increasing the pieces of a pie • E.g., a 2-for-1 split simply doubles the number of shares

38. Why Firms Split Their Stock • Some literature supports the existence of an optimal trading range • A principal reason for splitting shares is “to broaden the ownership base” • Reverse splits are sometimes used to reduce the number of shareholders • E.g., a 1-for-200 splits eliminates all shareholders holding fewer than 200 shares

39. Stock Dividends • Stock dividends are not different from stock splits for the investor • E.g., a 100 percent stock dividend is the same as a 2-for-1split • The difference between stock dividends and stock split is an accounting phenomenon • A split alters the par value • A stock dividend means new shares are issued

40. Investment Styles • Value investing • Growth investing • Capitalization • Integrating style and size

41. Value Investing • Definition • Price/earnings ratio • Price/book ratio

42. Definition • Value investors look for undervalued stock • Utilize the firm’s earnings history and balance sheet • PE ratio, price/book ratio • Place much emphasis on known facts

43. Price/Earnings Ratio • The PE ratio is stock price divided by EPS • A forward-looking PE uses earnings forecasts • A trailing PE uses historical earnings

44. Price/Book Ratio • The price/book ratio is the stock price divided by book value per share • Book value is the firm’s assets minus its liabilities • Book value is different from market value • Value investors look for low price/book ratios

45. Growth Investing • Growth investors look for price momentum • Look for stocks that are in favor and have been advancing • Look for stocks that are likely to be propelled even higher • The market moves in cycles • Many investors own both growth and value stocks

46. Capitalization • Capitalization refers to the aggregate value of a company’s common stock • Typical divisions are: • Large cap ($1 billion or more) • Mid-cap (between $500 million and $1 billion) • Small cap (less than $500 million) • Micro cap

47. Integrating Style and Size • Many money managers distribute their assets across size and style spectrums • www.morningstar.com provides a style box that can classify a portfolio

48. Categories of Stock • Blue chip stock • Income stocks • Cyclical stocks • Defensive stocks • Growth stocks • Speculative stocks • Penny stocks

49. Categories of Stock (cont’d) • Categories are not mutually exclusive • A note on stock symbols

50. Blue Chip Stock • Blue chip has become a colloquial term meaning “high quality” • Some define blue chips as firms with a long, uninterrupted history of dividend payments • The term blue chip lacks precise meaning, but some examples are: • Coca-Cola • Union Pacific • General Mills