Verifying SPB’s Reverse Split and Adjusted Price History
Summary
The document investigates an apparent mismatch between a reported reverse split for Spectrum Brands Holdings and prices shown around the effective date. It explains that the historical open-high-low data may already be adjusted for the corporate action, so the absence of an obvious price discontinuity does not establish that no split occurred. A separate response points readers to price-history footnotes distinguishing split-adjusted closing prices from adjusted closes that also account for distributions.
The accepted answer describes the event as part of a reverse merger involving Harbinger Group and Spectrum Brands Holdings, gives a more precise exchange ratio than the rounded ratio shown by some data providers, and recommends checking the company’s SEC filing for authoritative details. The discussion illustrates why vendor labels and displayed historical prices can be confusing around corporate actions. Its specific ratios and references are tied to this case; the document does not offer a general database comparison or establish that every vendor handles adjustments in the same way.
Key ideas
- Historical OHLC prices may already reflect adjustments for a reverse split or merger-related share conversion.
- Price-history footnotes can clarify whether displayed prices are adjusted for splits and distributions.
- Data providers may round corporate-action ratios.
- SEC filings provide a way to verify the details of a company’s corporate action.
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# How to verify the split history of SPB? # How to verify the split history of SPB? https://www.splithistory.com/spb/ I see a 162 for 1000 reverse split of SPB on 07/16/2018 as shown above. But the stock open price on 07/16/2018 is 82.70, the stock close price on 07/13/2018 is 82.72. https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/SPB/history This does not seem to be correct as a split of 1:8 surely should affect the stock price. However, yahoo finance also shows a split of 162:1000. So I am not sure whether there is indeed a split but somehow the price is not affected. Could anybody let me know how to verify whether there is this split for SPB? ## Answer by Richard at NorgateData (score 2, accepted) https://quant.stackexchange.com/a/70288 Despite what Yahoo states in their footnotes: the OHL data has also been adjusted. In this case, Hargbinger Group (HRG) initiated a reverse merger with Spectrum Brands Holdings, on the basis of 0.16125 HRG for the merged entity Spectrum Brands Holdings. So the accurate reverse split ratio is actually 16125:100000. Many providers round these ratios - it's probably doesn't make a material difference though. To verify the full details you should review the SEC filings. You can go here: https://www.sec.gov/edgar/searchedgar/companysearch.html then search for Spectrum Brands Holdings and scroll down until you see the 8-K report dated 2018-07-13: which points you to this: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0000109177/000119312518217953/d497639d8k.htm ## Answer by Dimitri Vulis (score 2) https://quant.stackexchange.com/a/70287 Looking at the price history on Yahoo finance: Observe the footnotes: > *Close price adjusted for splits.**Adjusted close price adjusted for splits and dividend and/or capital gain distributions. Yahoo help: https://help.yahoo.com/kb/SLN28256.html
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