Dividend Policy and Share Price Behaviour of Quoted Firms on the Nigerian Exchange Group

The relationship between dividend policy and share price behaviour has attracted sustained scholarly interest globally, yet its dynamics within the Nigerian capital market context continue to yield mixed empirical evidence. This study examines how dividend declarations by firms listed on the Nigerian Exchange Group influence their share prices, with a focus on firms across the consumer goods, banking, and industrial sectors. A longitudinal research design is adopted, utilising secondary data extracted from audited annual reports, the Nigerian Exchange Group fact sheets, and the Securities and Exchange Commission database for a five-year period spanning 2019 to 2023. Panel data regression techniques, including fixed and random effects models, are applied to assess the explanatory power of dividend per share, retention ratio, and payout frequency on market price per share. The study evaluates competing theoretical positions including the dividend irrelevance hypothesis proposed by Modigliani and Miller, the bird-in-hand theory, and signalling theory. While much of the existing literature focuses on large-capitalisation firms, this study extends analysis to mid-cap and emerging companies to ensure broader representativeness. The research anticipates contributing empirical evidence that clarifies the nature of dividend-price relationships in Nigeria's evolving capital market environment. Findings are expected to guide investor decision-making, enhance corporate governance disclosures, and support regulatory frameworks on dividend transparency. Keywords: dividend policy, share price, Nigerian Exchange Group, payout ratio, signalling theory