Post-IPO banks are far more likely to initiate dividends than nonfinancial firms. Moreover, dividend initiation has a major impact on the ultimate disposition of a newly public bank, increasing its likelihood of subsequent acquisition by around 40 percent and reducing the expected time until...

The sentiment of retail investors relative to that of institutional investors was measured by comparing their respective portfolio allocations to equity versus cash and fixed-income securities. The results suggest that fluctuations in retail sentiment are a primary driver of equity valuations...