Ch 14 Distributions to Shareholders: Dividends and Repurchases
1. Which of the following statements is correct?
One advantage of dividend reinvestment plans is that they enable investors to postpone paying taxes on the
dividends credited to their account.
Stock repurchases can be used by a firm that wants to increase its debt ratio.
Stock repurchases make sense if a company expects to have a lot of profitable new projects to fund over the
next few years, provided investors are aware of these investment opportunities.
One advantage of an open market dividend reinvestment plan is that it provides new equity capital and
increases the shares outstanding.
One disadvantage of dividend reinvestment plans is that they increase transactions costs for investors who
want to increase their ownership in the company.
FMTP.EHRH.17.14.01 – LO: 14-1
United States – BUSPROG: Analytic
United States – AK – DISC: Dividend policy
United States – OH – Default City – TBA
Stock repurchases and DRIPs
TYPE: Multiple Choice: Conceptual
2. Which of the following statements is correct?
One nice feature of dividend reinvestment plans (DRIPs) is that they reduce the taxes investors would have to
pay if they received cash dividends.
Empirical research indicates that, in general, companies send a negative signal to the marketplace when they
announce an increase in the dividend, and as a result share prices fall when dividend increases are announced.
The reason is that investors interpret the increase as a signal that the firm has relatively few good investment
opportunities.
If a company wants to raise new equity capital rather steadily over time, a new stock dividend reinvestment
plan would make sense. However, if the firm does not want or need new equity, then an open market purchase
dividend reinvestment plan would probably make more sense.
Dividend reinvestment plans have not caught on in most industries, and today about 99% of all companies
with DRIPs are utilities.
Under the tax laws as they existed in 2008, a dollar received for repurchased stock must be taxed at the same
rate as a dollar received as dividends.