Analysts, Industries, and Price Momentum

Leslie Boni, Kent L. Womack

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

This paper examines the value of analysts as industry specialists. We show analysts create value in their recommendations mainly through their ability to rank stocks within industries. An industry-based recommendation strategy substantially improves the return to risk ratio and reduces price momentum tilt relative to portfolios that ignore industry information. An examination of the links among analyst information, aggregated at the industry level, and industry returns and industry momentum shows that industry returns precede industry-aggregated analyst upgrades and downgrades, and the short-term industry price momentum phenomenon is partly explained by returns of firms with more analyst coverage leading those with less in that industry. Recommendation information is not valuable for predicting future relative industry returns, however.

Original languageAmerican English
JournalJournal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis
Volume41
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 2006
Externally publishedYes

Disciplines

  • Economics
  • Business

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