Influence of Dividend Payout on Share Price Movement

The effect of dividend payout on share price is a controversial issue in financial theory. The study investigated the influence of dividend payout on share price movement using data collected from Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange for the period of 2013-2017 to provide the way forward. The sample had 65 observations collected from twelve listed companies at DSE. Regression analysis through multilevel analysis was employed while controlling the influence of earnings per share (EPS), company size (SIZE) and dividend yield (DY). The study found that dividend payout has no influence; dividend yield has a negative significant influence while company size has positive significant influence on share price movements. Therefore; it was recommended that shareholders should not use dividend payout statistics of the company to gauge the performance of the company but they should use company size and dividend yield among other factors.