Liquidity, investor sentiment and price discount of SEOs in Australia

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to empirically test whether stock liquidity and investor sentiment have interactive effects on seasoned equity offers (SEOs) price discounts in Australia. Design/methodology/approach – The authors focus on the implicit cost borne by firms when issuing seasoned equity capital. This cost is measured as the relative difference between the SEO offer price and the last close price prior to the announcement of the issue. The primary measure of investor sentiment is a composite index constructed similar to that in Baker and Wurgler (2007). Findings – The results show that, in periods of deteriorating investor sentiment, the increase in SEO price discounts for firms with illiquid stocks is larger than the corresponding increase for firms with liquid stocks. This suggests that, as sentiment wanes, investors become even more concerned about illiquidity, leading to even greater required compensation for holding illiquid assets. The authors find that information asymmetry is positively related to SEO price discounts but this relation is not affected by changing investor sentiment. Research limitations/implications – Collectively, the empirical results provide support for the argument that price discount of SEOs represents compensation to investors for bearing costs associated with illiquidity. The results also lend some support to the behavioural argument that pricing of equity offers is dependent upon investor sentiment, particularly for firms with illiquid stocks. Practical implications – The ability for firms to raise capital in a cost-effective manner is critical for firm growth and stability. Investors require compensation for bearing the costs of illiquidity of their investments in equity. Accordingly, firms need to be conscious of their stocks’ existing liquidity and its influence on the cost of raising additional capital which, in turn, affects their operational stability and investment opportunities. Social implications – Ultimately, the implications of this study will assist firms in capital-raising decisions, investors in making portfolio investment decisions, and investment banks in setting offer prices on equity issues. Originality/value – To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to examine the interaction between investor sentiment and SEO price discounts in Australia.