The Importance of Financial Ratios for Predicting Stock Price Trends: The Evidence from the Visegrad Group

This study examines the effect of the main microeconomic factors on the stock prices of select financial sector companies listed on the Central European Exchanges (Budapest Stock Exchange, Prague Stock Exchange, Bratislava Stock Exchange, or Warsaw Stock Exchange). The microeconomic factors are based on the financial situation in companies. For the analysis are used financial ratios, gained from the financial statements of the individual companies. In general, the paper confirmed that rentability and debt ratios are the most important business factors from the prospective of its impact on stock prices. The relationship between observed variables is explored using panel regression analysis. The ordinary least squares method is used for constructing a regression model. The sample period of our dataset is composed of annual data from 2002 to 2015.