The Puzzling Increase in the Underpricing of Seasoned Equity Offerings

Using a sample of over 3,000 seasoned equity offerings (SEOs) from 1983 to 1998, we test the hypothesis that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's Rule 10b‐21, which disallows the covering of short positions with newly issued SEOs, makes pre‐offer stock prices less informative, which, in turn, causes the new seasoned equity to be priced at a discount. Consistent with the hypothesis, we find that the year the rule went into effect coincides with the year from which we begin observing significant SEO discounts. Further, we find that ex ante uncertainty and SEO discounts are positively related. We also conduct tests specifically related to short selling, and we also consider an exhaustive set of alternative explanations for the discounts. Based on all of the evidence, we conclude that it is the rule that makes issue discounts larger in the 1990s.     

Analyst Following and Equity Offerings Subsequent to Initial Public Offerings

Analyst forecast information is collected for firms following their IPOs and is used in an examination of subsequent seasoned equity offerings (SEOs). Consistent with information asymmetry arguments, the analysis indicates that a larger percentage of firms conducting SEOs within three years of the IPO are covered by financial analysts than those without SEOs, and that analyst coverage is a significant predictor of subsequent SEOs. In addition, the results indicate that long-term earnings growth forecasts are larger for firms with subsequent SEOs, but growth forecasts decline significantly following the SEOs. Further, SEO abnormal returns exhibit a significant negative relationship with earnings growth forecasts. These results are consistent with windows of opportunity arguments since they suggest that SEOs are timed to coincide with the peak of earnings growth expectations, but that market participants compensate by reacting more negatively to offerings by firms with high growth forecasts.     

An Empirical Examination of the Pricing of Seasoned Equity Offerings: A Test of the Signaling Hypothesis

This paper tests the predictions made by Signaling Theory against the competing Price–Irrelevance Hypothesis (Eckbo and Masulis, 1992). Signaling Theory suggests that the issue price of a security provides a signal of quality of the issuing firm. In contrast, the Price–Irrelevance Hypothesis suggests that equity pricing does not possess information content. This paper investigates the pricing of seasoned equity offerings by examining the role of firm quality and relative firm valuation on issue price discounts. Additionally, this paper investigates the relationship between the issue price discount and the market reaction at the issuance of seasoned equity offerings. The results indicate that firm quality does not have a significant impact on the degree of price discounting by the issuing firm. Relative firm market valuation does appear to be a determinant of the magnitude of discounting in setting the issue price. This paper also provides evidence that seasoned equity offerings firms that provide a lower issue-price discount experience a lower stock-price decline following the issuance as compared to firms offering a higher price discount.     

Accounting information and the valuation of Seasoned Equity Offerings (SEOs)

This study investigates the association between publicly available information disclosed in the SEO prospectus and offer prices of SEOs, as well as the association between this type of publicly available information and stock returns subsequent to an SEO after controlling for self-selection bias. The empirical evidence shows that disclosure of the planned uses of the SEO proceeds reveals value-relevant information which has been incorporated by the underwriters in setting the offer prices. Control for self-selection bias appears necessary to obtain unbiased estimates in the regression model explaining the determinants of offer price in SEOs.     

增发新股中的利益博弈和新股定价

本文将股票价格看作内在价值和一个美式看涨期权,对增发过程和IPO的区别之处--即时利益输送和股票价值两方面综合考虑,确定新老股东增发博弈中的支付函数,根据发行成功的纳什均衡条件得到增发定价合理值或合理区间,并利用该结果对69家增发公司实例进行分析,得出我国增发定价普遍高估,而现有的竞价机制具有一定的矫正功能的结论.     

Underpricing, Subsequent Equity Offerings, and the Long-Run Performance of Japanese IPOs

Using data on IPOs that are issued in Japan during January 1975–March 1989, we examine the deliberate underpricing and overreaction hypotheses to explain high initial returns at offering dates. Specifically, we analyze the cross-sectional pattern of the short- and long-run performance of IPOs. The obtained results indicate that the deliberate underpricing theories which we examine are unable to explain the high initial returns on the Japanese IPOs. Furthermore, for the average of the IPOs, the empirical results are not consistent with the overreaction hypothesis. However, there is evidence consistent with the hypothesis that for a certain minority group of IPOs, the high initial returns occur due to overreactions by investors. We interpret the overall results as indicating that the high initial returns on the Japanese IPOs can be attributed to a mixture of both underpricing and investor overreaction. We conjecture that the binding regulations in Japan led to underpricing. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Seasoned Equity Issues in a Closely Held Market: Evidence from France

This paper examines seasoned equity offerings in France. Eventhough a rights offering is the primary flotation method, Frenchcompanies are increasingly using the relatively expensive publicoffering method. We show that the market reaction to the announcementof seasoned equity issues is significantly negative for rightsissues and insignificantly negative for public offerings. Ourresults suggest that the adverse selection effect is greaterfor rights issues than for public offerings, due to strongerunderwriter certification for the public offerings. We findthat the share price effect is positively related to blockholderstake-up renouncements for firms with prior concentrated ownership.For these firms, the favourable ownership dispersion effectoffsets the adverse selection effect. JEL Classification: G32,G14 and D80.     

Seasoned Equity Issues in a Closely Held Market: Evidence from France

This paper examines seasoned equity offerings in France.Even though a rights offering is the primary flotation method, French companies are increasingly usingthe relatively expensive public offering method. We show that the market reaction to the announcementof seasoned equity issues is significantly negative for rights issues and insignificantly negative forpublic offerings. Our results suggest that the adverse selection effect is greater for rights issues thanfor public offerings, due to stronger underwriter certification for the public offerings. We find that theshare price effect is positively related to blockholders take-up renouncements for firms with priorconcentrated ownership. For these firms, the favourable ownership dispersion effect offsets the adverse selection effect.     

Further Evidence on Insider Selling Prior to Seasoned Equity Offering Announcements: The Role of Growth Opportunities

Previous research documents significant abnormal net selling by insiders prior to seasoned equity offering announcements. This study documents that the abnormal net selling is significantly greater for growth firms than for mature firms. It also shows that growth firms experience poorer post-issue long-term price performance, which suggests greater overpricing for growth firms. Further analysis shows that greater insider selling prior to the offering announcement is associated with a greater price run-up prior to the announcement and is not associated with a more negative market reaction to the announcement. Overall, the results suggest that investors may be overly optimistic about future prospects of growth firms.     

Initial Public Offerings: Evidence from the British,French and Swedish Property Share Markets

This paper investigates the underpricing and long-run performance of initial public offerings (IPOs), using a unique sample consisting of 54 British, French and Swedish property companies, which became publicly listed during the period 1984–1999. Similar to common stock IPOs, the European property share IPOs in our sample outperformed the benchmark on the first day of trading, on average with 2.55 percent. However, these property share IPOs tend to underperform their benchmark over the twelve-month period subsequent to the initial offering. We also examine explanatory factors such as issue size, the degree of debt financing, ex-ante uncertainty, and the underlying property types of the companies involved. The results are in line with those previously found for common stocks.     

Underwriter warrants,underwriter reputation,and growth signaling

We present an alternative explanation of warrant use for underwriter compensation. We consider underwriter warrants as a signaling device to convey an issuing firm’s future growth potential and test this signaling role of warrant use by taking a direct approach in a seasoned equity offering (SEO) environment. Employing a matched-sample approach, we find that the use of warrants mitigates the negative price effects of SEOs. Specifically, the issuance of SEOs with warrant-based compensation has a significantly less negative impact on abnormal return performance than the issuance of SEOs with cash-based compensation. The results of logit regressions confirm this linkage. We further find that this less negative impact on firm value is attributable to the signaling value representing the issuing firm’s future growth prospects through warrant compensation even in the presence of underwriter reputation variables. These results suggest that firms with greater growth prospects benefit more by issuing SEOs with warrant compensation than with cash compensation. Overall, our results support the growth signaling effect of warrant compensation as an additional role of underwriter warrants in the SEO market.

Market Reaction Implications of the Composition of SEO Packages on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange

In this paper, the author examines the implications of the composition of the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange's different seasoned equity offering (SEO) packages on the market reaction to the SEO announcements. The 2000-2010 analysis demonstrates the significant impact of the SEO package's composition on the reaction to SEO announcements. It appears that the most negative impact of stock options in the package is alleviated by inclusion of a rights issue. The author concludes that package composition conveys an important signal to investors. Because they are perceived as a diminished threat to the existing ownership's balance of power, rights issues may alleviate asymmetric information agencies.     

An Analysis of Closed-end Fund Seasoned Equity Offerings

We examine the stock price reaction to seasoned equity offerings (SEOs) of closed‐end funds and the determinants of the issuance decision. We find that sample funds have negative and significant average announcement‐day returns that are less than the returns associated with industrial firm SEOs, most likely because funds have fewer information asymmetries. Issuing funds have higher pre‐issue returns, higher premiums, lower betas, and lower three‐year, post‐issue returns than nonissuing funds. The results of the study are consistent with the argument that fund managers time issues to take advantage of mean reversion in fund returns.     

公开增发公司分类转移与核心盈余异象研究

本文研究中国上市公司增发前分类转移与由此产生的核心盈余异象。研究发现,针对增发公司业绩门槛法规变化,公司公开增发前分类转移增强,可操控应计盈余管理减弱,核心盈余持续性下降,核心盈余异象增强。研究表明,公开增发业绩门槛变化使公司偏好以分类转移方式虚增核心盈余,从而改变核心盈余结构,引起核心盈余持续性下降,进一步造成投资者高估公司未来价值,导致核心盈余异象。本文不仅发展了盈余管理与盈余异象研究,还充实了不同盈余管理方式成本收益权衡的研究。同时,本文丰富了分类转移动机研究,且本文结论有助于投资者对增发公司正确估值。     

The Importance of the Sequence in UK Rights Issues

Abstract:  This study examines the market reaction to UK rights issues announcements and also investigates the position of these issues in the sequence in which the firms make multiple rights issues. The sample consists of 569 rights issues made by 243 industrial and financial firms over the period 1988–1998. The results suggest that the UK market responds negatively to earlier issues in the sequence made by multiple rights issuers. This negative reaction diminishes and becomes insignificant at or after the third issue. In addition, the study shows that the favourable response to later rights issues in the sequence is due to the diminishment in the level of information asymmetry around such issues.     

上市公司股权再融资盈余管理行为的实证分析

本文运用横截面修正的Jones模型,对我国1997—2002年A股上市公司配股盈余管理行为作了实证分析。研究发现,配股前3个年度和配股当年存在系统的盈余管理行为,影响了上市公司资本配置效率,并导致配股后上市公司业绩出现下降。会计师对于盈余管理进行了必要的关注,说明融资后的审计意见报告具有一定的质量。     

Information Transfers across Same–Sector Funds When Closed–End Funds Issue Equity

This study examines the reaction of non–issuing, same–sector funds when a closed–end fund announces a seasoned equity offering. The non–issuing, same–sector funds have a significant, negative announcement–day abnormal return. The abnormal returns for U.S. debt funds are less negative than U.S. equity and international debt funds. The abnormal returns for international debt funds are more negative than international equity funds. Announcement–day abnormal returns are directly related to the announcement–day abnormal return of the issuing fund and the premium/discount of the issuing fund. Announcement–day abnormal returns are inversely related to the premium/discount of the non–issuing, same–sector funds.     

An Analysis of Seasoned Equity Offerings by Equity REITs, 1991 to 1995

This article examines the valuation effect around the filing and offer dates of seasoned equity offerings by Equity REITs over the period 1991 to 1995. Based on a much larger sample, our finding of a significantly negative reaction to filing announcements corroborates the evidence in Howe and Shilling (1988). Our analyses indicate that the valuation effect is impacted more by the information content of the filing than any tax-based explanations. We find a significantly negative valuation effect on the offer day as well. The effect persists even after adjustment of returns by the bid-ask bounce induced by excessive selling of shares in the secondary market by institutional investors to take advantage of offer price discounts. While we attribute the result partly to order flow imbalance around the offer day, this finding is inconsistent with extant literature merits and further investigation.