Link Between Executive Stock Ownership and Corporate Financial Performance

This study examined the relationship between executive stock ownership and the financial performance of firms in the hospitality industry. The study sample included 30 public hospitality companies listed on NASDAQ, all of which had 14 years of complete financial data. The study used the Pearson correlation and linear regression analysis to test the relationship in the hotel segment, the restaurant segment, and the combined hospitality segment. The results show there is no statistically significant positive relationship between executive stock ownership and firm profit in the hotel segment, whereas in the restaurant segment, there is a negative linear relationship. Furthermore, the combined 30 hospitality companies show a slight negative linear relationship. The findings neither support the “Agency Theory,” nor reveal a clear correlation between executive stock ownership and the profit performance of firms in the hospitality group.