Graduation Year
2020
Date of Submission
5-2020
Document Type
Campus Only Senior Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Economics
Reader 1
Darren Filson
Terms of Use & License Information
Rights Information
2020 Jonathan D Levine
Abstract
Using data from 52 activist short reports released between 2011 and 2018, I conducted an event study to calculate the cumulative abnormal returns seen when an activist short report is released. I then obtained financial indicators from WRDS Financial Ratio Suite, representing the financial soundness, profitability, liquidity, value, and capitalization of a targeted company. I tested to see whether certain financial indicators affect how susceptible targeted companies are to increased negative cumulative returns. I found that a targeted company’s negative CAR (-10,10) are highly correlated with levels of financial soundness, value, and capitalization, with liquidity and profitability not having significance. Additionally, I found that only one activist firm saw significantly different negative CARs when controlling for the financial characteristics of the target.
Recommended Citation
Levine, Jonathan, "Activist Short Sellers and What Makes a Targeted Company More Susceptible to Negative Consequences" (2020). CMC Senior Theses. 2430.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/2430
This thesis is restricted to the Claremont Colleges current faculty, students, and staff.
