Share price reaction to cash dividend announcement: an event study of listed firms in Kenya

This study aimed to establish the effect of cash dividend announcement on share price reaction of the firms listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE). This study used Event Study methodology with purely secondary drawn data from 24 firms listed on the NSE who meet the study threshold with an event window of eleven (11) days during the year 2008-2013. The study adopted the descriptive research design and sampling de-sign being purposive. STATA version SE12 was used to produce a descriptive analysis. The findings indicate that the share price reaction to dividend announcement is positive for a dividend increase and negative for dividend decrease and constant for the constant dividend. The study therefore recommends that the effect of the dividend on the firm’s share price is very crucial for not only the literature but also for the regulation and supervision of the capital market and that further development of accounting standards, increased auditing skills, and advances in investor education will likely make dividends even more important in the future. Following these findings, it would be useful to also consider the following directions for future research on whether there is any joint effect of cash dividend, bonus issues, and right issues on the share price of firms listed on NSE.