Journal of Business & Financial Affairs

The Impact of Hedging on the Market Value of Equity: A New Look Through a New Sample

Abstract

James M Nelson*

I use the Fama and French five-factor model to reexamine the seemingly anomalous result of Nelson, Moffitt, and Affleck-Graves, who document significant abnormal returns for firms that hedge. Applying the latest five-factor model on a new sample of U.S. firms from 2013-2021, I observe significant monthly abnormal returns of 0.274% (3.34% annually) for firms using derivative securities (hedgers). Additional analysis shows mixed results regarding the economies of scale and managerial sophistication hypotheses that predict any abnormal returns from hedging should be confined only to large firms.