INFLUENCE OF DIVIDEND POLICY ON SHAREHOLDER'S WEALTH AMONG NIGERIAN DEPOSIT MONEY BANKS

The study examines the influence of dividend policy on the shareholders’ wealth among listed deposit money banks in Nigeria from 2011-2020. The specific objectives are to; examine how dividend per share influences the market share price of listed banks in Nigeria and investigate the impact of dividend payout on the market price of listed banks in Nigeria. Secondary data was extracted from annual reports of samples 9 banks from 2011 to 2020. Descriptive statistics, Correlation analysis and fixed effect panel regression methods to analysed the data. The overall results indicated that dividend policy maintained a favourable influence on market share price and earnings per share (F-stat. 12.782; corresponding P-value = 0.001). The results further indicated that dividend per share and market share exerts a positive and considerable relevance to market share. This study concluded that that dividend per share positively impact on the shareholders wealth through increase in the market share price of the banks suggesting that investors use information on the dividend per share in making their investment decision which is reflected in the price offered for a firm share. This study recommended among others that the dividend per share and dividend payout should be given higher attention in the banks dividend policy as it has the capacity to create more value for the banks.