Exam 16: Financial Leverage and Capital Structure Policy

Miller's Dry Goods is an all equity firm with 45,000 shares of stock outstanding at a market price of $50 a share. The company's earnings before interest and taxes are $128,000. Miller's has decided to add leverage to its financial operations by issuing $250,000 of debt at 8 percent interest. The debt will be used to repurchase shares of stock. You own 400 shares of Miller's stock. You also loan out funds at 8 percent interest. How many shares of Miller's stock must you sell to offset the leverage that Miller's is assuming? Assume you loan out all of the funds you receive from the sale of stock. Ignore taxes.

By definition, which of the following costs are included in the term "financial distress costs"? I. direct bankruptcy costs II. indirect bankruptcy costs III. direct costs related to being financially distressed, but not bankrupt IV. indirect costs related to being financially distressed, but not bankrupt

Percy's Wholesale Supply has earnings before interest and taxes of $106,000. Both the book and the market value of debt is $170,000. The unlevered cost of equity is 15.5 percent while the pre-tax cost of debt is 8.6 percent. The tax rate is 38 percent. What is the firm's weighted average cost of capital?

Pete is the CFO of Dexter International. He would like to increase the debt-equity ratio of the firm but is concerned that the firm's shareholders may not be willing to accept additional financial leverage. Pete has come to you for advice. What is your recommendation?

Jemisen's has expected earnings before interest and taxes of $6,200. Its unlevered cost of capital is 13 percent and its tax rate is 34 percent. The firm has debt with both a book and a face value of $2,500. This debt has a 9 percent coupon and pays interest annually. What is the firm's weighted average cost of capital?

The basic lesson of M&M Theory is that the value of a firm is dependent upon:

Galaxy Products is comparing two different capital structures, an all-equity plan (Plan I) and a levered plan (Plan II). Under Plan I, Galaxy would have 178,500 shares of stock outstanding. Under Plan II, there would be 71,400 shares of stock outstanding and $1.79 million in debt outstanding. The interest rate on the debt is 10 percent and there are no taxes. What is the breakeven EBIT?

Winter's Toyland has a debt-equity ratio of 0.72. The pre-tax cost of debt is 8.7 percent and the required return on assets is 16.1 percent. What is the cost of equity if you ignore taxes?

The proposition that a firm borrows up to the point where the marginal benefit of the interest tax shield derived from increased debt is just equal to the marginal expense of the resulting increase in financial distress costs is called:

Which one of the following statements related to Chapter 7 bankruptcy is correct?

Explain how a firm loses value during the bankruptcy process from both a creditors and a shareholders perspective.

Which one of the following is the legal proceeding under which an insolvent firm can be reorganized?

M&M Proposition II is the proposition that:

Edwards Farm Products was unable to meet its financial obligations and was forced into using legal proceedings to restructure itself so that it could continue as a viable business. The process this firm underwent is known as a:

Which of the following statements related to financial risk are correct? I. Financial risk is the risk associated with the use of debt financing. II. As financial risk increases so too does the cost of equity. III. Financial risk is wholly dependent upon the financial policy of a firm. IV. Financial risk is the risk that is inherent in a firm's operations.

Which one of the following is the equity risk related to a firm's capital structure policy?

M&M Proposition I with taxes is based on the concept that:

The unlevered cost of capital refers to the cost of capital for a(n):

New Schools, Inc. expects an EBIT of $7,000 every year forever. The firm currently has no debt, and its cost of equity is 17 percent. The firm can borrow at 8 percent and the corporate tax rate is 34 percent. What will the value of the firm be if it converts to 50 percent debt?

Johnson Tire Distributors has debt with both a face and a market value of $12,000. This debt has a coupon rate of 6 percent and pays interest annually. The expected earnings before interest and taxes are $2,100, the tax rate is 30 percent, and the unlevered cost of capital is 11.7 percent. What is the firm's cost of equity?