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Key Determinants of Dividend Payout Among Listed Companies at Nairobi Securities Exchange

Dividend decisions continue to fascinate scholars and researchers all around the world. Determinants of dividend payout have been widely investigated but results are not always consistent. This paper investigated how well current after tax earnings and prior dividends influence dividend decisions at the Nairobi Securities exchange using panel data of 40 companies listed in various sectors of the stock market over a period of eleven years (2000-2010). By employing a multiple regression model, a significant positive association between prior dividends and current earnings is established. Prior dividend is noted to guide current dividends for all the nine sector firms studied while earnings govern dividend decisions of only three sectors. Panel data for the period was explained very well (78 percent) by Fama and Babiak (1968) dividend model. Therefore equity investors should consider a firms most recent dividend payout when picking stocks with good dividend returns.