Exam 11: Determining the Cost of Capital

Suppose the debt ratio (D/TA) is 50%, the interest rate on new debt is 8%, the current cost of equity is 16%, and the tax rate is 40%. An increase in the debt ratio to 60% would decrease the weighted average cost of capital (WACC).

You have been hired as a consultant by Feludi Inc.'s CFO, who wants you to help her estimate the cost of capital. You have been provided with the following data: rRF = 4.10%; RPM = 5.25%; and b = 1.30. Based on the CAPM approach, what is the cost of common from reinvested earnings?

Suppose you are the president of a small, publicly-traded corporation. Since you believe that your firm's stock price is temporarily depressed, all additional capital funds required during the current year will be raised using debt. In this case, the appropriate marginal cost of capital for use in capital budgeting during the current year is the after-tax cost of debt.

The text identifies three methods for estimating the cost of common stock from reinvested earnings (not newly issued stock): the CAPM method, the dividend growth method, and the bond-yield-plus-risk-premium method. However, only the CAPM method always provides an accurate and reliable estimate.

Bartlett Company's target capital structure is 40% debt, 15% preferred, and 45% common equity. The after-tax cost of debt is 6.00%, the cost of preferred is 7.50%, and the cost of common using reinvested earnings is 12.75%. The firm will not be issuing any new stock. You were hired as a consultant to help determine their cost of capital. What is its WACC?

You are a finance intern at Chambers and Sons and they have asked you to help estimate the company's cost of common equity. You obtained the following data: D1 = $1.25; P0 = $27.50; gL = 5.00% (constant); and F = 6.00%. What is the cost of equity raised by selling new common stock?

Which of the following statements is CORRECT?

The before-tax cost of debt, which is lower than the after-tax cost, is used as the component cost of debt for purposes of developing the firm's WACC.

Which of the following statements is CORRECT?

Granby Foods' (GF) balance sheet shows a total of $25 million long-term debt with a coupon rate of 8.50%. The yield to maturity on this debt is 8.00%, and the debt has a total current market value of $27 million. The company has 10 million shares of stock, and the stock has a book value per share of $5.00. The current stock price is $20.00 per share, and stockholders' required rate of return, rs, is 12.25%. The company recently decided that its target capital structure should have 35% debt, with the balance being common equity. The tax rate is 40%. Calculate WACCs based on book, market, and target capital structures. What is the sum of these three WACCs?

As the assistant to the CFO of Johnstone Inc., you must estimate its cost of common equity. You have been provided with the following data: D0 = $0.80; P0 = $22.50; and gL = 8.00% (constant). Based on the dividend growth model, what is the cost of common from reinvested earnings?

Which of the following statements is CORRECT?

Quinlan Enterprises stock trades for $52.50 per share. It is expected to pay a $2.50 dividend at year end (D1 = $2.50), and the dividend is expected to grow at a constant rate of 5.50% a year. The before-tax cost of debt is 7.50%, and the tax rate is 40%. The target capital structure consists of 45% debt and 55% common equity. What is the company's WACC if all the equity used is from reinvested earnings?

When estimating the cost of equity by use of the dividend growth method, the single biggest potential problem is to determine the growth rate that investors use when they estimate a stock's expected future rate of return. This problem leaves us unsure of the true value of rs.

If a firm is privately owned, and its stock is not traded in public markets, then we cannot measure its beta for use in the CAPM model, we cannot observe its stock price for use in the dividend growth model, and we don't know what the risk premium is for use in the bond-yield-plus-risk-premium method. All this makes it especially difficult to estimate the cost of equity for a private company.

Firms raise capital at the total corporate level by retaining earnings and by obtaining funds in the capital markets. They then provide funds to their different divisions for investment in capital projects. The divisions may vary in risk, and the projects within the divisions may also vary in risk. Therefore, it is conceptually correct to use different risk-adjusted costs of capital for different capital budgeting projects.

The cost of perpetual preferred stock is found as the preferred's annual dividend divided by the market price of the preferred stock. No adjustment is needed for taxes because preferred dividends, unlike interest on debt, is not deductible by the issuing firm.

The text identifies three methods for estimating the cost of common stock from reinvested earnings (not newly issued stock): the CAPM method, the dividend growth method, and the bond-yield-plus-risk-premium method. However, only the dividend growth method is widely used in practice.

Collins Group The Collins Group, a leading producer of custom automobile accessories, has hired you to estimate the firm's weighted average cost of capital. The balance sheet and some other information are provided below. Assets Current assets \ 38,000,000 Net plant, property, and equipment 101,000,000 Total assets \ 139,000,000 Liabilities and Equity Accounts payable \ 10,000,000 Accruals 9,000,000 Current liabilities \ 19,000,000 Long-term debt (40,000 bonds, \ 1,000 par value) 40,000,000 Total liabilities \ 59,000,000 Common stock ( 10,000,000 shares) 30,000,000 Retained earnings 50,000,000 Total shareholders' equity 80,000,000 Total liabilities and shareholders' equity \ 139,000,000 The stock is currently selling for $15.25 per share, and its noncallable $1,000 par value, 20-year, 7.25% bonds with semiannual payments are selling for $875.00. The beta is 1.25, the yield on a 6-month Treasury bill is 3.50%, and the yield on a 20-year Treasury bond is 5.50%. The required return on the stock market is 11.50%, but the market has had an average annual return of 14.50% during the past 5 years. The firm's tax rate is 40%. -Refer to the data for the Collins Group. What is the best estimate of the after-tax cost of debt?

Which of the following statements is CORRECT?