Does high growth create value for shareholders? : evidence from S&P500 firms

This paper investigates the relationship between growth rate and shareholder value creation, using a sample of 243 non-financial Standard and Poor’s 500 (S&P500) companies, which have 22 years of consecutive data available (1993–2014). Sustainable Growth Rate Model (SGR) is used to divide the sample into two groups as high growth firms and moderate growth firms. Using Panel data approach, it is shown that sales growth below sustainable growth rate (SGR) enhance shareholder value at a significantly higher rate compared to growth above sustainable growth rate. The findings suggest that shareholder value creation maximizes around sustainable growth rate and decreases sharply once SGR exceeded.