A Theoretical Model for Valuing Preferred Stock

This paper develops a model of preferred stock value which includes the possibility of dividends on the preferred stock being omitted. The analytical framework used is based on the option-hedging methodology of Black and Scholes. Precise valuation formulae are obtained for cumulative and noncumulative preferred stock in a variety of contexts. The values obtained are quite different from those for either riskless or risky perpetual bonds, which have previously been proposed as being similar to preferred stock.     

The Use of Electronic Funds Transfers to Capture the Effects of Cash Management Practices on the Demand for Demand Deposits: A Note

The rapidly increasing use of more sophisticated cash management practices is a factor influencing the demand for money that is not considered in standard models of money demand. Within the framework of an inventory theoretic model of money demand, this paper provides theoretical grounds for using the number of electronic funds transfers as an indication of increasing cash management sophistication. Specifically, the demand for demand deposits is determined from the solution of a simultaneous equation system that also determines the optimal level of cash management. Therefore, the level of cash management services influences transactions costs, implying that transactions costs are endogenous. The number of electronic funds transfers is closely linked to the level of cash management services and is therefore related to transactions costs. Models of money demand that treat transactions costs as exogenous and fixed are therefore misspecified and will not perform well when transactions costs are changing. By explicitly incorporating the changing nature of transactions costs through the use of electronic funds transfers, the problems of instability and poor predictive power associated with the demand for money in the 1970's are overcome.     

Preferred Stock Returns, CreditWatch, and Preferred Stock Rating Changes

This paper examines the announcement effects of CreditWatch placement and reratings upon a sample of preferred stock issues that were placed on CreditWatch and later rerated or affirmed by Standard & Poor's. Results indicate that CreditWatch provides information to market participants and may have reduced the surprise associated with subsequent reratings. CreditWatch placement may be an erroneous signal, however, since nearly 50 percent of the issues placed for negative reasons were not downgraded, but affirmed, upon removal from Credit Watch.     

The Costs of Issuing Preferred Stock

U.S. firms commonly use preferred stocks to raise external capital. Yet this hybrid security's issuance costs and offer yields have not been previously examined in a systematic manner. We analyze a sample of 3,042 U.S. preferred stocks issued between 1980 and 1999. We find that convertible issues, which are riskier than straight issues, entail higher gross spreads and other direct expenses. Scale, credit rating, and industry effects influence gross spreads and issuance costs. We also compare preferred stocks yields with various bellwether bond yields. Our results support the tax‐based argument that suggests that yields on preferred stocks should be lower than comparable risky bonds.     

Effects of Preferred Stock Re-rating on Common Stock Prices: Further Evidence

This study examines the price reactions of common stocks to changes in preferred stock ratings, with focuses on firms with less information available in the market as well as on firms with a relatively larger proportion of preferred stock financing. Emphasis on differential information and the relative size of preferred stocks across firms provide a more powerful test of the effect of rating changes on stock prices. Contrary to previous studies that report no price effect on common stocks due to preferred stock re-ratings, these results show that for low-information firms and for firms with a larger proportion of preferred stocks in their capital structure, a preferred stock rating downgrade exerts significant negative price effect on common stocks during the two-day announcement period. Our findings also have implications for future studies of other firm-specific events such as security offerings, stock repurchases, and convertible calls.     

The Weekly Pattern in Stock Returns: Cash versus Futures: A Note

This paper presents tests designed to determine whether the weekly pattern in stock returns continues after the introduction of futures trading on stock indexes and whether the pattern carries over to the futures market. Using data for the SP500, I find that the “Monday effect” does persist in the cash market, but there is no evidence of a similar pattern in the futures market.     

The Price Elasticity of Demand for Common Stock

We study the price elasticity of demand for the common stock of an individual corporation. Despite the prevelance of assumptions that demand is perfectly elastic, there is little if any direct evidence in the literature to either support or reject that contention. Consistent with the notion of finite price elasticities, we find that the announcement of primary stock offerings by regulated firms depresses their stock prices and little if any evidence that this decline is the result of adverse information about future cash flows. Attempts to relate offer announcement effects directly to possible determinants of price elasticities, however, are inconclusive.     

Sinking Funds and the Agency Costs of Corporate Debt

This paper examines whether a firm's sinking fund decision is affected by agency costs. The paper argues that sinking funds can be an effective device to resolve the problems of information asymmetry, risk incentives, and suboptimal investments. Empirical tests are provided. Results show that firms with certain characteristics related to agency problems tend to adopt a sinking fund provision in the bond indenture.     

Convertible Preferred Stock Valuation: Tests of Alternative Models

We undertake a comprehensive test of several contingent claim valuation models adapted to callable, convertible preferred stocks employing a sample of 24 issues and over 27,000 daily price observations. To our knowledge, no large-scale tests of these models have been published. The most complete model tested is an extension of the 1970s developments of Ingersoll and of Brennan and Schwartz, allowing for realistic contract features including delayed callability and nonconstant call prices. The mean and the mean absolute pricing errors are approximately –0.18 percent and 5.4 percent, respectively, and this model fits the data substantially better than the simpler alternatives that ignore such features. Thus, the added computational complexity required for the most complete model examined is evidently merited. Moreover, to the extent that the most complete model accurately mirrors reality, the evidence suggests that investors rationally account for many of the complex features imbedded in typical contracts.