Research Article
The Impact of ESG Performance Information on Firm Valuation Efficiency: Focusing on Financial Analyst Target Prices
1 Dong-eui University, 2 Inha University
Published: January 2024 · Vol. 53 No. 5 · pp. 1137-1163
DOI: https://doi.org/10.17287/kmr.2024.53.5.1137
Full Text
Abstract
This study examined whether financial analysts can incorporate ESG performance information efficiently into the stock price targets. Although the ESG information is known to be value-relevant from long-term perspective, it would be overly or less reflected in the expectations of corporate value since there remain concerns with objectivity and value-linkage of ESG evaluation criteria. For the empirical test, this study analyzed the relationship between ESG ratings and analysts’ forecast errors in stock price targets. The analysis results on firms listed in KSE or KOSDAQ from 2011 to 2020 show that the higher the ESG ratings, the higher the stock price targets and the more optimistic the target stock price forecast. These results show that the higher performance ratings, the more overly the expectation of corporate value growth is reflected in the target stock price. Further analysis also shows that the higher ESG ratings more reduce the degree to which the analysts’ target price explains the stock returns. By reporting the analysts’ efficiency of corporate valuation on ESG performance information, this study suggests that information users including investors need to be careful in valuation using non-financial information.
