DIVIDEND POLICY
Dividends provide the portion of a firm's net earnings which are paid out to the shareholders.
the objective of financial management of maximizing the shareholders' wealth, the firm would be well advised to use the gross profits for paying dividends to shareholders, if it will direct to the maximization of the wealth of the owners. If not, the firm should rather retain them to finance investment programs.
But, there are conflicting believes regarding the impact of dividends on the valuation of the firm. As per the one school of thought, dividends are inappropriate so that the amount of dividends paid has no effect on the valuation of a firm. Alternatively, certain theories believe the dividend decision as relevant to the value of the firm measured in terms of the market price of the shares.