The Influence of Dividend Payments on Share Price in Manufacturing Firms Quoted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange

Abstract

This paper examined the influence of dividend payments on the price of share of quoted manufacturing companies in Nigeria employing panel data with 125 data observations spanning from 2014-2018.  A purposeful sampling technique was used to select twenty-five manufacturing companies investigated from the Nigerian stock market. A linear regression model was specified and was further broken down into a bivariate regression model and the method of least square regression was adopted for data analysis. The outcome of the panel regression indicated that, dividend per share has a positive influence on the price of shares of high and low geared manufacturing firms; earnings per shares positively influence the shares price of both dividend and non-dividend paying manufacturing companies; dividend yield show an adverse effect on the share price of new and old manufacturing companies; credit risk was found to positively impact share price of big manufacturing companies, but adversely affect the share price of small manufacturing companies in Nigeria. In view of the outcomes of the analysis, the study therefore recommended that a conducive and favorable business environment should be created by the government for both old and new manufacturing companies in Nigeria to thrive. Also, credit risk should be effectively and efficiently managed by small manufacturing companies in particular in order to eliminate its adverse influence on their share price.