We use short interest as an investor-based measure of over/undervaluation that distinguishes between the misvaluation and Q-theories of mergers. Using this measure, we find that misvaluation is a strong determinant of merger decision making. Firms in the top quintile of short interest are 54%...

Using data for three publicly quoted firms, all of whom operate within the upstream oil industry, this study provides evidence for feasibility of incidence of contradictions (`contradictions of ranking') between a ranking of fundamental valuations, and corresponding ranking of market valuations....

This paper reviews literature on reverse engineering in equity valuation from the perspective of a fundamental investor. Despite a history of over 80 years, the literature on reverse engineering shows no clear consensus on the modelling, conceptualisation and operationalisation of the technique....

In all investment decisions it is important to determine the degree of uncertainty associated with the valuation of a company. We propose an original and robust methodology to company valuation which replaces the traditional point estimate of the conventional Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) with a...

We find that the presence of independent directors who are blockholders (IDBs) in firms promotes better CEO contracting and monitoring, and higher firm valuation. Using a panel of about 11,500 firm-years with a unique, hand-collected dataset on IDB-identity and a novel instrument, we find that...

The aim of this paper is to study the influence of the Merger and Acquisition (M&A) payment method decision on the acquiring shareholders' M&A valuation, considering the relevance of the acquiring ownership structure and the legal and institutional environment, and the possibility that the...

I examine acquisitions of private firms by public acquirers to better understand the effects of financial constraints on the division of economic gains in takeovers. Empirical tests exploit interstate bank branching deregulation, which relaxes financial constraints on private firms and can...

In the 1980s, stock exchanges and eventually the SEC took actions that affected the eligibility of listed firms to adopt dual-class shares with differential voting rights. We find that risk-adjusted stock returns increase (decrease) in reaction to regulatory events that decrease (increase) the...

Most existing studies conclude that the accuracy of analysts' target prices is questionable. In forecasting target prices, analysts estimate a future stock price under the constraint of a time frame of usually 12 months. We exclude this source of uncertainty by focusing on valuations in takeover...

This study examines the association between chief executive officer (CEO) overconfidence and future stock price crash risk. Overconfident managers overestimate the returns to their investment projects and misperceive negative net present value (NPV) projects as value creating. They also tend to...