Managerial ownership and catering to investor sentiment for dividends: evidence from the electromechanical industry sector on the Warsaw Stock Exchange

Research background: Dividends have been the subject of scientific research for decades. However, many aspects of payout policy are still controversial, and research provides contradictory results. One research area is the impact of the ownership structure on dividend policy. Although many scientific studies on this subject have been conducted, there is still a lack of research on the impact of managerial ownership on adjusting the dividend payout to investor sentiment. It was this research gap that motivated us to investigate the issue. Purpose of the article: The aim of the paper is to evaluate how managerial ownership affects the disposition of companies to adjust their dividend payouts to investor sentiment. Achieving that objective provides stock market investors with additional information and allows for its practical implications as they seek the best investment opportunities. Methods: The main method of investigation is a panel regression model with random effects. This model is used based on the Breusch-Pagan test and the Hausman test, while the information criteria of Akaike, Schwarz, and Hannan-Quinn are also taken into consideration. Additionally, descriptive statistics and the Pearson correlation coefficient are used. The research sample consists of Polish companies from the electromechanical industry sector that are listed on the main market of the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE) in the period 2009–2018. Findings & Value added: Our findings reveal that: 1) an increase in dividend premium results in a higher payout in order to cater to investor sentiment; 2) if the manager holds the greatest number of shares, the catering effect weakens. The main contribution of the paper is a new approach to the catering theory of dividends, which includes the impact of managerial ownership.