> The problem here is that doing anything else as a publicly traded company is illegal.
Sort of? It's more complicated than "get highest share price possible as quickly as possible." Plenty of companies out there are focussed on long-term, stable growth.
Many investors are happy just to take their yearly dividends. At least when these are on reasonable level. And some companies aim just at this. These could be the traditional "blue chip" companies.
They have to act in the interest of the shareholders. Certainly it is more complex than just the stock price. But certainly no shareholder sees an increase in stock price, everything else aside, as against his interest.
That's a completely different topic. I'm tired of hearing people spout about a legal obligation to grow.
If you mean "it will hurt somebody's feelings" don't say "it's illegal". Those words do not mean the same thing.
If a company earned a $1 dividend for the last five years and the stock price is $10, what is wrong with paying out $1 dividend again next year and having the stock price stay at $10?
If a stockholder wants a bigger payout they can sell their share and invest the $10 in some other stock and take their chances.
Personally, I think a $10 share that pays out $1 and is still worth $10 is incredible. It doesn't bother me at all that neither the price nor the dividend has grown. It doesn't bother me that the square meters of manufacturing floor space hasn't grown. I don't mind that the number of employees hasn't grown. It's ok that the number of SKUs has stayed the same.
Sort of? It's more complicated than "get highest share price possible as quickly as possible." Plenty of companies out there are focussed on long-term, stable growth.