One of the primary goals that an
investors relations officer pursues is
to attract liquidity
The liquidity goal is much easier to
achieve if there are a large number of
registered shares available for
trading, which is known as float
A key consideration for the
investor relations department is
the numer of shares available for
trading
The investors relations staff can
have an impact on a company´s
float by paying attention to the
following float management
activities
Activities to delay stock sales
If a company has issued large
amounts of shares as payment for
acquisitions, it may be faced with
potentially massive stock sales
when the holders of those shares
want to convert their holdings to
cash
This intense selling pressure can
seriously depress the stock price,
especially when shareholders
Activities to increase the float
Issue more shares
Register stock (company initiative)
Register stock (Employee initiative)
Only issue common stock
Minimize stock repurchases
Break up stock blocks
Conduct road shows
A company may set up a direct stock
purchase plan (DSPP), under which
shareholders can buy shares directly
from the company´s stock transfer
agent without going through a
stockbroker
A DSPP is attractive to the investor
relations department, because it tends to
attract long-term investors who are
interested in buying the shares of the
company over the long term
A public company can create an
employee stock purchase plan
(ESPP), under which employees make
regular payments to purchase shares
of the company´s stock at regular
intervals
An ESPP doesnt usually generate a
great deal of cash for a company, and
requires a modest amount of
administrative overhead
Dividends are a distribution of a
company´s earnings and are paid
from its retained earnings
A company can set up a dividend
reinvestment plan (DRIP), under
which shareholders can elect to
reinvest their dividends in the
purchase of additional company
shares
If a company enjoys a continuing
run-up in the price of its stock, the
price may eventually be so high that ir
prevents individual investors from
buying large blocks of stock
The resulting reduction in demand is
not large, and is unlikely to have a
significant impact on the price of the
stock
If a company is planning to issue a
dividend for the first time, its
worthwhile for the investor relations
officer to discuss the issue with the
board before they approve the
transaction
Always consider a vote to issue
dividends as a long-term strategic issue,
not just a short-term payout
Companies sometimes engage in stock
buybacks, where the board of directors
authorizes that a certain amount of cash be
set aside for a repurchase program
Under the SEA a company is not allowed
to enter into any transactions releated to
its securities that will affect their prices
or trading volumes