The study looked at how stock prices react to dividend announcements. Instead of just looking at the change in dividends, they compared the actual dividend to what analysts expected. They found that stock prices do change after dividend announcements, but the change in dividends alone doesn't explain it. The results suggest that the old way of looking at dividends should be changed. They also found some support for the idea that dividends can signal a company's financial health, but not for other theories about why companies pay dividends.