KIU Interdisciplinary Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences Copyright© 2023 by authors; licensee KIJHUS. This article is an open access article and can be freely accessed and distributed. FIRM VALUE AND ITS CHARACTERISTICS: EVIDENCE FROM LISTED HEALTHCARE ENTERPRISES IN NIGERIA Hakeem Tomi Saliu 1 Dare Joseph Enimola 2 Nurudeen Yakubu Zakariya 3 1,2,3 Prince Abubakar Audu University, Anyigba, Nigeria *Corresponding Email: saliuhakeemtomi@gmail.com Citation: Saliu, H.T., Enimola, D.J., & Zakariya, N.Y. (2023). Firm Value and its Characteristics: Evidence from Listed Healthcare Enterprises in Nigeria. KIU Interdisciplinary Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 4(1), 90-109 ABSTRACT This study examined firm value sequel to the firm characteristics of listed Healthcare Enterprises within the Nigerian context. The goal is to determine how the selected firm characteristics influence value of Nigerian healthcare enterprises. Ex-post facto design was employed to conduct this study; and this involved the application of panel data. Two proxies represented firm value; share prices and Tobin’s Q. Secondary data gathered from the annual financial reports of the 10 firms was analyzed using panel data regression. Firm size was found to have positive impact on the firm value of listed Enterprises in the Healthcare Sector of Nigeria. The study also discovered that liquidity had a negative substantial impact on the firm value, implying that having too much liquidity is detrimental to the firms' value. It was found that financial leverage has a significantly negative impact on firm value. The study recommended that Healthcare Enterprises' management should expand their investment portfolio in order to broaden their scope of operations. Healthcare Enterprises neither should create solid current asset management procedures to guarantee that inadequate nor are unneeded funds invested in current assets. Keywords: Firm Characteristics, Firm Value, Healthcare Firm, Firm Size, Liquidity and Stock Firm Value, Operational Efficiency INTRODUCTION The importance of the healthcare industry to the overall economy's growth and development cannot be overstated. The health industry is vital to socio-economic development. There is sufficient evidence associating productivity to healthcare service. Nigeria's goal of becoming one of the world's top 20 economies by 2020 is inextricably linked to the growth of its human capital through the health sector (Troya et al., 2019). Aside from the ministries, departments, and parastatals of the federal, state, and local governments, the healthcare sector is among the industry in terms of labor