It seems simple enough, but I see differing numbers from different sources. Here’s an example:
Delta Petroleum Corp. (ticker: DPTR)
Here’s what yahoo finance has to say. They show a market cap of $196.37 million at a current price per share of $1.91. From that I can figure out that they have approximately 102.8 million shares outstanding.
Here’s what Bloomberg has to say. They show a market cap of $528.665 million and 276.788 million shares outstanding.
Here’s what MSN Money has to say. They show a market cap of $482.89 million and 252.82 million shares outstanding.
Here’s what TD Ameritrade has to say. They show a market cap of $525.9 million and 275.3 million shares outstanding.
So now I try to go to the source. Here’s the latest 10Q for Delta Petroleum. On page 24 footnote 10, they state that they have a weighted average of outstanding shares of 193.028 million for the three month period ending 6/30/09.
So, my question is: what the hell is going on here? Why is it so difficult to determine the number of shares outstanding?
I should have also stated that on the front page of the 10Q, the stated number of shares outstanding is 276,788,000 as of 8/1/09, which matches to what Bloomberg says.
It’s highly tedious to track, and it adjusts frequently due to adjustments in their stock of Treasury shares. Firms buy back shares because capital gains are tax advantaged over dividends and so they can issue restricted stock or options to employees and upper management. http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=896
I understand that CRSP has the best shares outstanding time series, though I doubt whether anything can beat a careful reading of the financial filings.
It would appear Yahoo is not taking into account the 172.5mm shares issued in May. The most recent number you’re going to find easily and publicly available is from the 10Q.
Hope the OP doesn’t mind my piggybacking with a sort of related question: A big story for some of the companies I follow lately has been “capital reductions”, where some amount of shares outstanding are “cancelled” in return for compensating the shareholders at a certain rate per share. It also looks like sometimes–but not always–the number of shares O/S cancelled is equivalent to the same number of shares issued some time earlier as a “stock dividend”. I’m kind of curious if this is something that goes on with companies in other markets, and why. (I’m a little cautious about asking my coworkers about it for fear of appearing uninformed.)
But if its too arcane a question, feel free to disregard!