What Is A Warrant In Finance (Explained: All You Need To Know)

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What Is A Warrant In Finance

A warrant in finance refers to a type of derivative instrument allowing the warrant holder to buy or sell an underlying security at a certain price before a certain expiration date.

In other words, a warrant gives the holder the right to buy or sell securities, typically equity securities, for a fixed price before a predetermined date.

When a warrant allows the holder to buy securities, we refer to those warrants as call warrants.

Conversely, warrants give the holder to sell securities, we refer to them as put warrants.

Very often, warrants are issued with bonds or preferred shares as “kickers” or “sweeteners” giving the bondholder or preferred shareholder the right to purchase common shares in the future.

Since the issuer offers the bondholder or preferred shareholder warrants, investors will be willing to accept a slightly lower rate of interest, coupon payment, or dividend payment.

Keep reading as I will further break down the meaning of warrants in finance and tell you how they work.

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How Do Warrants Work

Warrants are derivative instruments used to grant warrant holders the right to buy or sell an underlying security at a specific strike price and before a defined expiration date.

Companies will typically issue warrants to bondholders or preferred shareholders as “kickers” to sweeten the deal.

Many investors appreciate getting warrants issued to them as they can eventually exercise their right to purchase the underlying securities, generally equity, in the company.

What’s particular about warrants is that most of the time they are issued directly by the issuer to the investor as opposed to a third party issuing the warrants.

For example, Company ABC will issue warrants granting the right to the warrant holder to purchase common shares in Company ABC at a specific price (strike price) and before a certain date (expiration date).

In the United States, warrants are generally exercisable at any time before the expiration date whereas in Europe, warrants are only exercisable on the expiration date.

Warrants can grant the holder to buy shares (call warrants) or sell shares (put warrants) based on the terms of the warrant issuance.

Also, warrants do not grant the warrant holder the right to vote in the company or entitle the holder to dividends.

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Warrant Features

Warrants are derivative securities allowing their holder to buy or sell an underlying security, very often equity securities like common shares.

Warrants have characteristics that are very similar to option contracts where they have a strike price, expiration date, and right to buy or sell, among other things.

The strike price refers to the price at which the warrant holder can buy or sell the underlying securities.

The expiration date is the date when the warrants will expire if they are not exercised.

Warrants can give the holder the right to buy securities (call warrants) or sell securities (put warrants).

Also, there may be additional restrictions depending on where the warrants are issued.

In the United States, a warrant can generally be exercised at any time prior to the expiration date whereas in Europe, warrants can only be exercised on the specific expiration date.

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Types of Warrants 

There are different types of warrants that you should be familiar with.

The most common type of warrant is one that is issued along with bond issuances where an issuer tries to “bonify” or “sweeten” the deal for investors.

Warrants can also be issued along with preferred shares as kickers as well.

The traditional warrant is detachable from the bond or preferred share that it accompanies allowing the investor to sell the warrant in over-the-counter markets.

However, some warrants cannot be detached from the bond or preferred shares.

They are called wedding warrants.

Traditional warrants and wedded warrants are both dilutive in nature as the issuer will be required to issue additional shares.

In some cases, it’s possible for a third-party institution (and not the issuer) to issue warrants to investors called “covered warrants”.

In this case, the warrants are “covered” by a long position the financial institution may have in the underlying securities.

Covered warrants, unlike traditional and wedding warrants, are not dilutive in nature as the third-party institution already holds a long position in the underlying securities.

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Warrants Meaning In Finance FAQ

What is the difference between warrants and options

Both warrants and options work in similar ways as they offer the holder the right to buy or sell an underlying security at a specific price before a certain date.

However, the main difference is that options are generally contracts issued by third parties whereas warrants are issued directly by the issuer.

Also, warrants are generally traded on over-the-counter markets whereas options are traded on exchanges.

In addition, when warrants are issued, the issuer will need to issue additional shares thereby diluting the other shareholders whereas option contracts are non-dilutive.

What are the different types of warrants?

There are many different types of warrants that exist in the market.

Warrants can be classified as equity warrants, covered warrants, basket warrants, index warrants, wedding warrants, detachable warrants, naked warrants, and cash or share warrants.

Traditional warrants are issued along with bonds or preferred shares and can be detached and sold on over-the-counter markets.

Covered warrants are issued without an accompanying bond or preferred share and are typically traded on a stock exchange.

What is an example of warrant issuance?

Let’s assume that a company is looking to raise capital to finance the purchase of a real estate property.

The company’s objective is to raise $10 million in capital.

The company’s shares are trading at a market price of $10 per share.

To finance the acquisition, the company decides to issue bonds for $10 million at a lower rate of interest but offers the bondholders warrants giving them the right to purchase common shares in the future.

The company issues warrants allowing the warrant holder to purchase common shares at a price of $15 per share for a period of one year.

This means that if the company’s stock price increases to $20 within the year, the warrant holder can exercise the warrants and acquire the shares at $15 thereby making a profit of $5 per share.

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Takeaways 

So there you have it folks!

What does a warrant mean in finance?

In a nutshell, a warrant is a type of security allowing its holder to purchase or sell an underlying security, generally stocks, at a fixed price before a specified expiration date.

Warrants are similar to options in finance as they both grant the holder the right to buy or sell securities at a predetermined price before a certain date.

However, warrants are typically issued directly by the issuer or authorized institutions whereas option contracts can be issued by any investor in the market.

In many cases, warrants are issued along with bonds or preferred shares but they can be detached and sold on over-the-counter markets.

Many investors appreciate having warrants issued along with bonds or preferred shares as they get the right to acquire or sell equity using the warrants.

Now that you know what is a warrant and how it works, good luck with your research!

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