Market Reaction to Actual Daily Share Repurchases in Greece

Abstract

The stock market reaction around the announcement date of actual share repurchases, the factors that affect the size of that reaction, and the motives behind share acquisitions are examined. A unique, hand-collected dataset is used, including public announcements of companies traded on the Athens Stock Exchange. Consistent with the price support hypothesis, companies repurchase when their share price exhibits a declining trend, whereas the short-term market reaction is not statistically significant. Large firms and firms with low book-to-market ratio repurchase when their stock has underperformed the market. Small firms and firms with high book-to-market ratio repurchase even though their shares have not experienced abnormal declines. The market reacts more favorably to buybacks by small firms and firms with high book-to-market ratio. Long-term abnormal returns are higher for repurchasing firms compared to non-repurchasing controls, and depend positively on the frequency of repurchases and the stated reason for program authorization.JEL Classification: G14, G15, G35