Definition of Return on Common Equity Ratio

Return on Common Equity Ratio

A measure of the percentage return earned on the value of the
common equity invested in the company. It is calculated by
dividing the net income available for distribution to shareholders
by the book value of the common equity.

CARs (cumulative abnormal returns)

a measure used in academic finance articles to measure the excess returns an investor would have received over a particular time period if he or she were invested in a particular stock.
This is typically used in control and takeover studies, where stockholders are paid a premium for being taken over. Starting some time period before the takeover (often five days before the first announced bid, but sometimes a longer period), the researchers calculate the actual daily stock returns for the target firm and subtract out the expected market returns (usually calculated using the firm’s beta and applying it to overall market movements during the time period under observation).
The excess actual return over the capital asset pricing model-determined expected return market is called an ‘‘abnormal return.’’ The cumulation of the daily abnormal returns over the time period under observation is the CAR. The term CAR(-5, 0) means the CAR calculated from five days before the
announcement to the day of announcement. The CAR(-1, 0) is a control premium, although Mergerstat generally uses the stock price five days before announcement rather than one day before announcement as the denominator in its control premium calculation. However, the CAR for any period other than (-1, 0) is not mathematically equivalent to a control premium.

Abnormal returns

Part of the return that is not due to systematic influences (market wide influences). In
other words, abnormal returns are above those predicted by the market movement alone. Related: excess
returns.

Acid-test ratio

Also called the quick ratio, the ratio of current assets minus inventories, accruals, and prepaid
items to current liabilities.

After-tax real rate of return

Money after-tax rate of return minus the inflation rate.

All equity rate

The discount rate that reflects only the business risks of a project and abstracts from the
effects of financing.

Annualized holding period return

The annual rate of return that when compounded t times, would have
given the same t-period holding return as actually occurred from period 1 to period t.

Appraisal ratio

The signal-to-noise ratio of an analyst's forecasts. The ratio of alpha to residual standard
deviation.

Arithmetic average (mean) rate of return

Arithmetic mean return.

Arithmetic mean return

An average of the subperiod returns, calculated by summing the subperiod returns
and dividing by he number of subperiods.

Articles of incorporation

Legal document establishing a corporation and its structure and purpose.

Asset/equity ratio

The ratio of total assets to stockholder equity.

Asset activity ratios

ratios that measure how effectively the firm is managing its assets.

Average accounting return

The average project earnings after taxes and depreciation divided by the average
book value of the investment during its life.

Average rate of return (ARR)

The ratio of the average cash inflow to the amount invested.

Bottom-up equity management style

A management style that de-emphasizes the significance of economic
and market cycles, focusing instead on the analysis of individual stocks.

Capital rationing

Placing one or more limits on the amount of new investment undertaken by a firm, either
by using a higher cost of capital, or by setting a maximum on parts of, and/or the entirety of, the capital
budget.

Capitalization ratios

Also called financial leverage ratios, these ratios compare debt to total capitalization
and thus reflect the extent to which a corporation is trading on its equity. Capitalization ratios can be
interpreted only in the context of the stability of industry and company earnings and cash flow.

Cash flow coverage ratio

The number of times that financial obligations (for interest, principal payments,
preferred stock dividends, and rental payments) are covered by earnings before interest, taxes, rental
payments, and depreciation.

Cash flow from operations

A firm's net cash inflow resulting directly from its regular operations
(disregarding extraordinary items such as the sale of fixed assets or transaction costs associated with issuing
securities), calculated as the sum of net income plus non-cash expenses that were deducted in calculating net
income.

Cash flow per common share

Cash flow from operations minus preferred stock dividends, divided by the
number of common shares outstanding.

Cash ratio

The proportion of a firm's assets held as cash.

Common market

An agreement between two or more countries that permits the free movement of capital
and labor as well as goods and services.

Common stock

These are securities that represent equity ownership in a company. common shares let an
investor vote on such matters as the election of directors. They also give the holder a share in a company's
profits via dividend payments or the capital appreciation of the security.

Common stock/other equity

Value of outstanding common shares at par, plus accumulated retained
earnings. Also called shareholders' equity.

Common stock equivalent

A convertible security that is traded like an equity issue because the optioned
common stock is trading high.

Common stock market

The market for trading equities, not including preferred stock.

Common stock ratios

ratios that are designed to measure the relative claims of stockholders to earnings
(cash flow per share), and equity (book value per share) of a firm.

Common-base-year analysis

The representing of accounting information over multiple years as percentages
of amounts in an initial year.
common-size analysis The representing of balance sheet items as percentages of assets and of income
statement items as percentages of sales.

Concentration account

A single centralized account into which funds collected at regional locations
(lockboxes) are transferred.

Concentration services

Movement of cash from different lockbox locations into a single concentration
account from which disbursements and investments are made.

Controlled foreign corporation (CFC)

A foreign corporation whose voting stock is more than 50% owned
by U.S. stockholders, each of whom owns at least 10% of the voting power.

Conversion ratio

The number of shares of common stock that the security holder will receive from
exercising the call option of a convertible security.

Corporation

A legal "person" that is separate and distinct from its owners. A corporation is allowed to own
assets, incur liabilities, and sell securities, among other things.

Cost-benefit ratio

The net present value of an investment divided by the investment's initial cost. Also called
the profitability index.

Coverage ratios

ratios used to test the adequacy of cash flows generated through earnings for purposes of
meeting debt and lease obligations, including the interest coverage ratio and the fixed charge coverage ratio.

Cumulative abnormal return (CAR)

Sum of the differences between the expected return on a stock and the
actual return that comes from the release of news to the market.

Current ratio

Indicator of short-term debt paying ability. Determined by dividing current assets by current
liabilities. The higher the ratio, the more liquid the company.

Customary payout ratios

A range of payout ratios that is typical based on an analysis of comparable firms.

Days' sales in inventory ratio

The average number of days' worth of sales that is held in inventory.

Debt/equity ratio

Indicator of financial leverage. Compares assets provided by creditors to assets provided
by shareholders. Determined by dividing long-term debt by common stockholder equity.

Debt ratio

Total debt divided by total assets.

Debt-service coverage ratio

Earnings before interest and income taxes plus one-third rental charges, divided
by interest expense plus one-third rental charges plus the quantity of principal repayments divided by one
minus the tax rate.

Declaration date

The date on which a firm's directors meet and announce the date and amount of the next
dividend.

Deferred equity

A common term for convertible bonds because of their equity component and the
expectation that the bond will ultimately be converted into shares of common stock.

Dividend payout ratio

Percentage of earnings paid out as dividends.

Dollar duration

The product of modified duration and the initial price.

Dollar return

The return realized on a portfolio for any evaluation period, including (1) the change in market
value of the portfolio and (2) any distributions made from the portfolio during that period.

Dollar-weighted rate of return

Also called the internal rate of return, the interest rate that will make the
present value of the cash flows from all the subperiods in the evaluation period plus the terminal market value
of the portfolio equal to the initial market value of the portfolio.

Domestic International Sales Corporation (DISC)

A U.S. corporation that receives a tax incentive for
export activities.

Dual syndicate equity offering

An international equity placement where the offering is split into two
tranches - domestic and foreign - and each tranche is handled by a separate lead manager.

Duration

A common gauge of the price sensitivity of an asset or portfolio to a change in interest rates.

Earnings retention ratio

Plowback rate.

Edge corporations

Specialized banking institutions, authorized and chartered by the Federal Reserve Board
in the U.S., which are allowed to engage in transactions that have a foreign or international character. They
are not subject to any restrictions on interstate banking. Foreign banks operating in the U.S. are permitted to
organize and own and Edge corporation.

Effective duration

The duration calculated using the approximate duration formula for a bond with an
embedded option, reflecting the expected change in the cash flow caused by the option. Measures the
responsiveness of a bond's price taking into account the expected cash flows will change as interest rates
change due to the embedded option.

Equity

Represents ownership interest in a firm. Also the residual dollar value of a futures trading account,
assuming its liquidation at the going market price.

Equity cap

An agreement in which one party, for an upfront premium, agrees to compensate the other at
specific time periods if a designated stock market benchmark is greater than a predetermined level.

Equity claim

Also called a residual claim, a claim to a share of earnings after debt obligation have been
satisfied.

Equity collar

The simultaneous purchase of an equity floor and sale of an equity cap.

Equity contribution agreement

An agreement to contribute equity to a project under certain specified
conditions.

Equity floor

An agreement in which one party agrees to pay the other at specific time periods if a specific
stock market benchmark is less than a predetermined level.

Equity kicker

Used to refer to warrants because they are usually issued attached to privately placed bonds.

Equity market

Related:Stock market

Equity multiplier

Total assets divided by total common stockholders' equity; the amount of total assets per
dollar of stockholders' equity.

Equity options

Securities that give the holder the right to buy or sell a specified number of shares of stock, at
a specified price for a certain (limited) time period. Typically one option equals 100 shares of stock.

Equity swap

A swap in which the cash flows that are exchanged are based on the total return on some stock
market index and an interest rate (either a fixed rate or a floating rate). Related: interest rate swap.

Equity-linked policies

Related: Variable life

Equityholders

Those holding shares of the firm's equity.

Euroequity issues

Securities sold in the Euromarket. That is, securities initially sold to investors
simultaneously in several national markets by an international syndicate. Euromarket.
Related: external market

Ex post return

Related: Holding period return

Exante return

The expected return of a portfolio based on the expected returns of its component assets and
their weights.

Excess return on the market portfolio

The difference between the return on the market portfolio and the
riskless rate.

Excess returns

Also called abnormal returns, returns in excess of those required by some asset pricing model.

Expected future return

The return that is expected to be earned on an asset in the future. Also called the
expected return.

Expected return

The return expected on a risky asset based on a probability distribution for the possible rates
of return. Expected return equals some risk free rate (generally the prevailing U.S. Treasury note or bond rate)
plus a risk premium (the difference between the historic market return, based upon a well diversified index
such as the S&P500 and historic U.S. Treasury bond) multiplied by the assets beta.

Expected return on investment

The return one can expect to earn on an investment. See: capital asset
pricing model.

Expected return-beta relationship

Implication of the CAPM that security risk premiums will be
proportional to beta.

Expense ratio

The percentage of the assets that were spent to run a mutual fund (as of the last annual
statement). This includes expenses such as management and advisory fees, overhead costs and 12b-1
(distribution and advertising ) fees. The expense ratio does not include brokerage costs for trading the
portfolio, although these are reported as a percentage of assets to the SEC by the funds in a Statement of
Additional Information (SAI). the SAI is available to shareholders on request. Neither the expense ratio or the
SAI includes the transaction costs of spreads, normally incurred in unlisted securities and foreign stocks.
These two costs can add significantly to the reported expenses of a fund. The expense ratio is often termed an
Operating Expense ratio (OER).

Expiration

The time when the option contract ceases to exist (expires).

Expiration cycle

An expiration cycle relates to the dates on which options on a particular security expire. A
given option will be placed in 1 of 3 cycles, the January cycle, the February cycle, or the March cycle. At any
point in time, an option will have contracts with 4 expiration dates outstanding, 2 in near-term months and 2
in far-term months.

Expiration date

The last day (in the case of American-style) or the only day (in the case of European-style)
on which an option may be exercised. For stock options, this date is the Saturday immediately following the
3rd Friday of the expiration month; however, brokerage firms may set an earlier deadline for notification of
an option holder's intention to exercise. If Friday is a holiday, the last trading day will be the preceding
Thursday.

Feasible target payout ratios

Payout ratios that are consistent with the availability of excess funds to make
cash dividend payments.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)

A federal institution that insures bank deposits.

Financial leverage ratios

Related: capitalization ratios.

Financial ratio

The result of dividing one financial statement item by another. ratios help analysts interpret
financial statements by focussing on specific relationships.

Fisher's separation theorem

The firm's choice of investments is separate from its owner's attitudes towards
investments. Also refered to as portfolio separation theorem.

Fixed asset turnover ratio

The ratio of sales to fixed assets.

Fixed-charge coverage ratio

A measure of a firm's ability to meet its fixed-charge obligations: the ratio of
(net earnings before taxes plus interest charges paid plus long-term lease payments) to (interest charges paid
plus long-term lease payments).

Foreign equity market

That portion of the domestic equity market that represents issues floated by foreign companies.

Foreign Sales Corporation (FSC)

A special type of corporation created by the Tax Reform Act of 1984 that
is designed to provide a tax incentive for exporting U.S.-produced goods.

Freddie Mac (Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation)

A Congressionally chartered corporation that
purchases residential mortgages in the secondary market from S&Ls, banks, and mortgage bankers and
securitizes these mortgages for sale into the capital markets.

Funding ratio

The ratio of a pension plan's assets to its liabilities.

Funds From Operations (FFO)

Used by real estate and other investment trusts to define the cash flow from
trust operations. It is earnings with depreciation and amortization added back. A similar term increasingly
used is Funds Available for Distribution (FAD), which is FFO less capital investments in trust property and
the amortization of mortgages.

GEMs (growing-equity mortgages)

Mortgages in which annual increases in monthly payments are used to
reduce outstanding principal and to shorten the term of the loan.

Geometric mean return

Also called the time weighted rate of return, a measure of the compounded rate of
growth of the initial portfolio market value during the evaluation period, assuming that all cash distributions
are reinvested in the portfolio. It is computed by taking the geometric average of the portfolio subperiod
returns.

Hard capital rationing

Capital rationing that under no circumstances can be violated.

Hedge ratio (delta)

The ratio of volatility of the portfolio to be hedged and the return of the volatility of the
hedging instrument.

Holding period return

The rate of return over a given period.

Horizon return

Total return over a given horizon.

Income statement (statement of operations)

A statement showing the revenues, expenses, and income (the
difference between revenues and expenses) of a corporation over some period of time.

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