As I have discussed before, some data providers adjust stock prices for splits, but not for dividends. There are a few companies, like Google (GOOG) that don't pay dividends or split, so it doesn't matter, but many companies do both.
Sometimes dividends are small relative to price changes so a stock would be near its all-time high price either way (adjusted or unadjusted). But when a company pays out a large special-dividend then it makes a huge difference because, in theory, the stock price drops ex-dividend by the amount of the dividend.
Coming back to ACV, when the company paid $25.00 per share in Q42006, the stock price appeared to plummet, by (you guessed it) almost exactly $25 dollars. Therefore, if we look at a chart that only accounts for stock-splits (like the one below from BigCharts, then ACV is nowhere near its all-time high. However, if we look at the chart I made using stock prices adjusted for splits and dividends (from YahooFinance) or the chart from FreeStockCharts then ACV is at an all-time high. Here are the charts:
Chart adjusted for splits only (BigCharts):
Charts adjusted for splits and dividends:
So take notice - are the charts you are looking at based on adjusted or unadjusted price data? It can make a big difference in what "message" the chart is sending.
Related Posts:
- Adjusted versus Unadjusted Stock Price: SXC Health Solutions
- Adjusted versus Unadjusted Stock Price: NUS (Nuskin)
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