Deck 10: Determining the Cost of Capital

Question 1

The firm's cost of external equity capital is the same as the required rate of return on the firm's outstanding common stock.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

A firm going from a lower to a higher tax bracket could increase its use of debt, yet actually wind up with a lower after-tax cost of debt.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

The cost of debt, rd, is always less than rs, so rd(1 - T) will certainly be less than rs. Therefore, as long as the firm is not completely debt financed, the weighted average cost of capital will always be greater than rd(1 - T).

Answer 3

True

Question 4

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.

Question 5

Funds acquired by the firm through retaining earnings have no cost because there are no dividend or interest payments associated with them, but capital raised by selling new stock or bonds does have a cost.

Question 6

In capital budgeting and cost of capital analyses, the firm should always consider retained earnings as the first source of capital, since this is a free source of funding to the firm.

Question 7

The cost of debt is equal to one minus the marginal tax rate multiplied by the coupon rate on outstanding debt.

Question 8

The component costs of capital are market-determined variables in as much as they are based on investors' required returns.

Question 9

If expectations for long-term inflation rose, but the slope of the SML remained constant, this would have a greater impact on the required rate of return on equity, rs, than on the interest rate on long-term debt, rd, for most firms. In other words, the percentage point increase in the cost of equity would be greater than the increase in the interest rate on long-term debt.

Question 10

Suppose the debt ratio (D/TA) is 10 percent, the current cost of debt is 8 percent, the current cost of equity is 16 percent, and the tax rate is 40 percent. An increase in the debt ratio to 20 percent would decrease the weighted average cost of capital.

Question 11

The cost of common stock is the rate of return stockholders require on the firm's common stock.

Question 12

Since 70 percent of preferred dividends received by a corporation is excluded from taxable income, the component cost of equity for a company which pays half of its earnings out as common dividends and half as preferred dividends should, theoretically, be
Cost of equity = rs(0.30)(0.50) + rps(1 - T)(0.70)(0.50).

Question 13

The higher the firm's flotation cost for new common equity, the more likely the firm is to use preferred stock which has no flotation cost and retained earnings whose cost is the average return on assets.

Question 14

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. Thus, the appropriate marginal cost of capital for the current year is the after-tax cost of debt.

Question 15

The cost of issuing preferred stock by a corporation must be adjusted to an after-tax figure because of the 70 percent dividend exclusion provision for corporations holding other corporations' preferred stock.

Question 16

The cost of equity capital from the sale of new common stock (re) is generally equal to the cost of equity capital from retention of earnings (rs), divided by one minus the flotation cost as a percentage of sales price (1 - F).

Question 17

Capital can be defined as the funds supplied by investors.

Question 18

The cost of equity raised by retaining earnings can be less than, equal to, or greater than the cost of external equity raised by selling new issues of common stock, depending on tax rates, flotation costs, the attitude of investors, and other factors.

Question 19

It is not possible for a firm's use of debt to increase but its after-tax cost of debt to decline.

Question 20

The cost of capital should reflect the average cost of the various sources of long-term funds a firm uses to support its assets.

Question 21

Which of the following is not considered a capital component?

A) Long-term debt.
B) Common stock.
C) Permanent short-term debt.
D) Preferred stock.
E) All of the above are considered capital components.

Question 22

A company has a capital structure which consists of 50 percent debt and 50 percent equity. Which of the following statements is most correct?

A) The cost of equity financing is greater than or equal to the cost of debt financing.
B) The WACC exceeds the cost of equity financing.
C) The WACC is calculated on a before-tax basis.
D) The WACC represents the cost of capital based on historical averages. In that sense, it does not represent the marginal cost of capital.
E) The cost of retained earnings exceeds the cost of issuing new common stock.

Question 23

Which of the following statements is most correct?

A) Capital components are the types of capital used by firms to raise money. All capital comes from one of three components: long-term debt, preferred stock, and equity.
B) Preferred stock does not involve any adjustment for flotation cost since the dividend and price are fixed.
C) The cost of debt used in calculating the WACC is an average of the after-tax cost of new debt and of outstanding debt.
D) The opportunity cost principle implies that if the firm cannot invest retained earnings and earn at least rs, it should pay these funds to its stockholders and let them invest directly in other assets that do provide this return.
E) The cost of common stock, rs, is usually less than the cost of preferred stock.

Question 24

Which of the following is not considered a capital component for the purpose of calculating the weighted average cost of capital as it applies to capital budgeting?

A) Long-term debt.
B) Common stock.
C) Accounts payable.
D) Preferred stock.
E) All of the above are considered capital components for WACC and capital budgeting purposes.

Question 25

Which of the following statements is most correct?

A) Suppose a firm is losing money and thus, is not paying taxes, and that this situation is expected to persist for a few years whether or not the firm uses debt financing. Then the firm's after-tax cost of debt will equal its before-tax cost of debt.
B) The component cost of preferred stock is expressed as rps(1 - T), because preferred stock dividends are treated as fixed charges, similar to the treatment of debt interest.
C) The reason that a cost is assigned to retained earnings is because these funds are already earning a return in the business; the reason does not involve the opportunity cost principle.
D) The bond-yield-plus-risk-premium approach to estimating a firm's cost of common equity involves adding a subjectively determined risk-premium to the market risk-free bond rate.
E) All of the statements above are false.

Question 26

Which of the following statements is most correct?

A) Although some methods of estimating the cost of equity capital encounter severe difficulties, the CAPM is a simple and reliable model that provides great accuracy and consistency in estimating the cost of equity capital.
B) The DCF model is preferred over other models to estimate the cost of equity because of the ease with which a firm's growth rate is obtained.
C) The bond-yield-plus-risk-premium approach to estimating the cost of equity is not always accurate but its advantages are that it is a standardized and objective model.
D) Depreciation-generated funds are an additional source of capital and, in fact, represent the largest single source of funds for some firms.
E) None of the statements above is correct.

Question 27

Which of the following statements is most correct?

A) The CAPM approach to estimating a firm's cost of common stock never gives a better estimate than the DCF approach.
B) The CAPM approach is typically used to estimate a firm's cost of preferred stock.
C) The risk premium used in the bond-yield-plus-risk-premium method is the same as the one used in the CAPM method.
D) In practice (as opposed to in theory), the DCF method and the CAPM method usually produce exactly the same estimate for rs.
E) The statements above are all false.

Question 28

Which of the following statements is most correct?

A) The before-tax cost of preferred stock may be lower than the before-tax cost of debt, even though preferred stock is riskier than debt.
B) If a company's stock price increases, this increases its cost of common stock.
C) If the cost of equity capital increases, it must be due to an increase in the firm's beta.
D) Statements a and b are correct.
E) Answers a, b, and c are correct.

Question 29

In applying the CAPM to estimate the cost of equity capital, which of the following elements is not subject to dispute or controversy?

A) The expected rate of return on the market, rM.
B) The stock's beta coefficient, bi.
C) The risk-free rate, rRF.
D) The market risk premium (RPM).
E) All of the above are subject to dispute.

Question 30

Which of the following statements is most correct?

A) The WACC is a measure of the before-tax cost of capital.
B) Typically the after-tax cost of debt financing exceeds the after-tax cost of equity financing.
C) The WACC measures the marginal after-tax cost of capital.
D) Statements a and b are correct.
E) Statements b and c are correct.

Question 31

Which of the following statements is most correct?

A) The cost of capital used to evaluate a project should be the cost of the specific type of financing used to fund that project.
B) The cost of debt used to calculate the weighted average cost of capital is based on an average of the cost of debt already issued by the firm and the cost of new debt.
C) One problem with the CAPM approach to estimating the cost of equity capital is that if a firm's stockholders are, in fact, not well diversified, beta may be a poor measure of the firm's true investment risk.
D) The bond-yield-plus-risk-premium approach is the most sophisticated and objective method of estimating a firm's cost of equity capital.
E) The cost of equity capital is generally easier to measure than the cost of debt, which varies daily with interest rates, or the cost of preferred stock since preferred stock is issued infrequently.

Question 32

Firms should use their weighted average cost of capital (WACC) when they are funding their capital projects with a variety of sources. However, when the firm plans on using only debt or only equity to fund a particular project, it should use the after-tax cost of the specific source of capital to evaluate that project.

Question 33

For a typical firm with a given capital structure, which of the following is correct? (Note: All rates are after taxes.)

A) rd > rs > WACC.
B) rs > rd > WACC.
C) WACC > rs > rd.
D) rs > WACC > rd.
E) None of the statements above is correct.

Question 34

The lower the firm's tax rate, the lower will be the firm's after-tax cost of debt and WACC, other things held constant.

Question 35

Which of the following statements is most correct?

A) If a company's tax rate increases but the yield to maturity of its noncallable bonds remains the same, the company's marginal cost of debt capital used to calculate its weighted average cost of capital will fall.
B) All else equal, an increase in a company's stock price will increase the marginal cost of common stock, rs.
C) All else equal, an increase in interest rates will decrease the marginal cost of common stock, rs.
D) Answers a and b are correct.
E) Answers b and c are correct.

Question 36

Wyden Brothers uses the CAPM to calculate the cost of equity capital. The company's capital structure consists of common stock, preferred stock, and debt. Which of the following events will reduce the company's WACC?

A) A reduction in the market risk premium.
B) An increase in the risk-free rate.
C) An increase in the company's beta.
D) An increase in expected inflation.
E) An increase in the flotation costs associated with issuing preferred stock.

Question 37

Which of the following statements is most correct?

A) In the weighted average cost of capital calculation, we must adjust the cost of preferred stock for the tax exclusion of 70 percent of dividend income.
B) We ideally would like to use historical measures of the component costs from prior financings in estimating the appropriate weighted average cost of capital.
C) The cost of common stock (rs) will increase if the market risk premium and risk-free rate decline by a substantial amount.
D) Statements b and c are correct.
E) None of the statements above is correct.

Question 38

Which of the following statements is most correct?

A) The weighted average cost of capital for a given capital budget level is a weighted average of the marginal cost of each relevant capital component which makes up the firm's target capital structure.
B) The weighted average cost of capital is calculated on a before-tax basis.
C) An increase in the risk-free rate is likely to increase the marginal costs of both debt and equity financing.
D) Answers a and c are correct.
E) All of the answers above are correct.

Question 39

Which of the following statements is most correct?

A) Beta measures market risk, but if a firm's stockholders are not well diversified, beta may not accurately measure stand-alone risk.
B) If the calculated beta underestimates the firm's true investment risk, then the CAPM method will overestimate rs.
C) The discounted cash flow method of estimating the cost of equity can't be used unless the growth component, g, is constant during the analysis period.
D) An advantage shared by both the DCF and CAPM methods of estimating the cost of equity capital, is that they yield precise estimates and require little or no judgement.
E) All of the statements above are false.

Question 40

Which of the following is not considered a capital component for the purpose of calculating the weighted average cost of capital as it applies to capital budgeting?

A) Long-term debt.
B) Common stock.
C) Short-term debt used to finance seasonal current assets.
D) Preferred stock.
E) All of the above are considered capital components for WACC and capital budgeting purposes.

Question 41

Johnson Industries finances its projects with 40 percent debt, 10 percent preferred stock, and 50 percent common stock. • The company can issue bonds at a yield to maturity of 8.4 percent.
• The cost of preferred stock is 9 percent.
• The company's common stock currently sells for $30 a share.
• The company's dividend is currently $2.00 a share (D0 = $2.00)• Assume that the flotation cost on debt and preferred stock is zero, and no new stock will be issued.
• The company's tax rate is 30 percent.
What is the company's weighted average cost of capital (WACC)?

A) 8.33%
B) 9.32%
C) 9.79%
D) 9.99%
E) 13.15%

Question 42

Rollins Corporation is estimating its WACC. Its target capital structure is 20 percent debt, 20 percent preferred stock, and 60 percent common equity. Its bonds have a 12 percent coupon, paid semiannually, a current maturity of 20 years, and sell for $1,000. The firm could sell, at par, $100 preferred stock which pays a 12 percent annual dividend, but flotation costs of 5 percent would be incurred. Rollins' beta is 1.2, the risk-free rate is 10 percent, and the market risk premium is 5 percent. Rollins is a constant-growth firm which just paid a dividend of $2.00, sells for $27.00 per share, and has a growth rate of 8 percent. The firm's policy is to use a risk premium of 4 percentage points when using the bond-yield-plus-risk-premium method to find rs. The firm's marginal tax rate is 40 percent.
What is Rollins' cost of preferred stock?

A) 10.0%
B) 11.0%
C) 12.0%
D) 12.6%
E) 13.2%

Question 43

Dobson Dairies has a capital structure which consists of 60 percent long-term debt and 40 percent common stock. The company's CFO has obtained the following information: • The before-tax yield to maturity on the company's bonds is 8 percent.
• The company's common stock is expected to pay a $3.00 dividend at year end (D1 = $3.00)• Assume the firm will be able to use retained earnings to fund the equity portion of its capital budget.
• The company's tax rate is 40 percent.
What is the company's weighted average cost of capital (WACC)?

A) 12.00%
B) 8.03%
C) 9.34%
D) 8.00%
E) 7.68%

Question 44

What is Rollins' WACC?

A) 13.6%
B) 14.1%
C) 16.0%
D) 16.6%
E) 16.9%

Question 45

Rollins Corporation is estimating its WACC. Its target capital structure is 20 percent debt, 20 percent preferred stock, and 60 percent common equity. Its bonds have a 12 percent coupon, paid semiannually, a current maturity of 20 years, and sell for $1,000. The firm could sell, at par, $100 preferred stock which pays a 12 percent annual dividend, but flotation costs of 5 percent would be incurred. Rollins' beta is 1.2, the risk-free rate is 10 percent, and the market risk premium is 5 percent. Rollins is a constant-growth firm which just paid a dividend of $2.00, sells for $27.00 per share, and has a growth rate of 8 percent. The firm's policy is to use a risk premium of 4 percentage points when using the bond-yield-plus-risk-premium method to find rs. The firm's marginal tax rate is 40 percent.
What is Rollins' component cost of debt?

A) 10.0%
B) 9.1%
C) 8.6%
D) 8.0%
E) 7.2%

Question 46

What is the firm's cost of common stock (rs) using the DCF approach?

A) 13.6%
B) 14.1%
C) 16.0%
D) 16.6%
E) 16.9%

Question 47

What is Rollins' cost of common stock using the bond-yield-plus-risk-premium approach?

A) 13.6%
B) 14.1%
C) 16.0%
D) 16.6%
E) 16.9%

Question 48

Which of the following methods of estimating the cost of common equity for a firm treats risk explicitly?

A) DCF method.
B) CAPM method.
C) Composite method.
D) Bond-yield-plus-risk-premium method.
E) Answers b and d are correct.

Question 49

Rollins Corporation is estimating its WACC. Its target capital structure is 20 percent debt, 20 percent preferred stock, and 60 percent common equity. Its bonds have a 12 percent coupon, paid semiannually, a current maturity of 20 years, and sell for $1,000. The firm could sell, at par, $100 preferred stock which pays a 12 percent annual dividend, but flotation costs of 5 percent would be incurred. Rollins' beta is 1.2, the risk-free rate is 10 percent, and the market risk premium is 5 percent. Rollins is a constant-growth firm which just paid a dividend of $2.00, sells for $27.00 per share, and has a growth rate of 8 percent. The firm's policy is to use a risk premium of 4 percentage points when using the bond-yield-plus-risk-premium method to find rs. The firm's marginal tax rate is 40 percent.
What is Rollins' cost of common stock (rs) using the CAPM approach?

A) 13.6%
B) 14.1%
C) 16.0%
D) 16.6%
E) 16.9%

Question 50

Martin Corporation's common stock is currently selling for $50 per share. The current dividend is $2.00 per share. If dividends are expected to grow at 6 percent per year, then what is the firm's cost of common stock?

A) 10.0%
B) 10.2%
C) 10.6%
D) 10.8%
E) 11.0%

Question 51

A company has determined that its optimal capital structure consists of 40 percent debt and 60 percent equity. Given the following information, calculate the firm's weighted average cost of capital. rd = 6%
Tax rate = 40%
P0 = $25
Growth = 0%
D0 = $2.00

A) 6.0%
B) 6.2%
C) 7.0%
D) 7.2%
E) 8.0%

Question 52

The Global Advertising Company has a marginal tax rate of 40 percent. The last dividend paid by Global was $0.90. Global's common stock is selling for $8.59 per share, and its expected growth rate in earnings and dividends is 5 percent. What is Global's cost of common stock?

A) 12.22%
B) 17.22%
C) 10.33%
D) 9.66%
E) 16.00%

Question 53

Bouchard Company's stock sells for $20 per share, its last dividend (D0) was $1.00, and its growth rate is a constant 6 percent. What is its cost of common stock, rs?

A) 5.0%
B) 5.3%
C) 11.0%
D) 11.3%
E) 11.6%

Question 54

Your company's stock sells for $50 per share, its last dividend (D0) was $2.00, and its growth rate is a constant 5 percent. What is the cost of common stock, rs?

A) 9.0%
B) 9.2%
C) 9.6%
D) 9.8%
E) 10.0%

Question 55

An analyst has collected the following information regarding Christopher Co.: • The company's capital structure is 70 percent equity, 30 percent debt.
• The yield to maturity on the company's bonds is 9 percent.
• The company's year-end dividend is forecasted to be $0.80 a share.
• The company expects that its dividend will grow at a constant rate of 9 percent a year.
• The company's stock price is $25.
• The company's tax rate is 40 percent.
• The company anticipates that it will need to raise new common stock this year. Its investment bankers anticipate that the total flotation cost will equal 10 percent of the amount issued. Assume the company accounts for flotation costs by adjusting the cost of capital. Given this information, calculate the company's WACC.

A) 10.41%
B) 12.56%
C) 10.78%
D) 13.55%
E) 9.29%

Question 56

A company's balance sheets show a total of $30 million long-term debt with a coupon rate of 9 percent. The yield to maturity on this debt is 11.11 percent, and the debt has a total current market value of $25 million. The balance sheets also show that that the company has 10 million shares of stock; the total of common stock and retained earnings is $30 million. The current stock price is $7.5 per share. The current return required by stockholders, rS, is 12 percent. The company has a target capital structure of 40 percent debt and 60 percent equity. The tax rate is 40%. What weighted average cost of capital should you use to evaluate potential projects?

A) 8.55%
B) 9.33%
C) 9.36%
D) 9.87%
E) 10.67%

Question 57

Which of the following statements is most correct?

A) Since stockholders do not generally pay corporate taxes, corporations should focus on before-tax cash flows when calculating the weighted average cost of capital (WACC).
B) When calculating the weighted average cost of capital, firms should include the cost of accounts payable.
C) When calculating the weighted average cost of capital, firms should rely on historical costs rather than marginal costs of capital.
D) Answers a and b are correct.
E) None of the answers above is correct.

Question 58

The common stock of Anthony Steel has a beta of 1.20. The risk-free rate is 5 percent and the market risk premium (rM - rRF) is 6 percent. What is the company's cost of common stock, rs?

A) 7.0%
B) 7.2%
C) 11.0%
D) 12.2%
E) 12.4%

Question 59

Which of the following statements about the cost of capital is incorrect?

A) A company's target capital structure affects its weighted average cost of capital.
B) Weighted average cost of capital calculations should be based on the after-tax-costs of all the individual capital components.
C) If a company's tax rate increases, then, all else equal, its weighted average cost of capital will increase.
D) The cost of retained earnings is equal to the return stockholders could earn on alternative investments of equal risk.
E) Flotation costs can increase the cost of preferred stock.

Question 60

Grateway Inc. has a weighted average cost of capital of 11.5 percent. Its target capital structure is 55 percent equity and 45 percent debt. The company has sufficient retained earnings to fund the equity portion of its capital budget. The before-tax cost of debt is 9 percent, and the company's tax rate is 30 percent. If the expected dividend next period (D1) and current stock price are $5 and $45, respectively, what is the company's growth rate?

A) 2.68%
B) 3.44%
C) 4.64%
D) 6.75%
E) 8.16%

Question 61

Allison Engines Corporation has established a target capital structure of 40 percent debt and 60 percent common equity. The firm expects to earn $600 in after-tax income during the coming year, and it will retain 40 percent of those earnings. The current market price of the firm's stock is P0 = $28; its last dividend was D0 = $2.20, and its expected growth rate is 6 percent. Allison can issue new common stock at a 15 percent flotation cost. What will Allison's marginal cost of equity capital (not the WACC) be if it must fund a capital budget requiring $600 in total new capital?

A) 15.8%
B) 13.9%
C) 7.9%
D) 14.3%
E) 9.7%

Question 62

Hilliard Corp. wants to calculate its weighted average cost of capital (WACC)• The company's long-term bonds currently offer a yield to maturity of 8 percent. • The company's stock price is $32 per share (P0 = $32)• The company recently paid a dividend of $2 per share (D0 = $2.00)• The dividend is expected to grow at a constant rate of 6 percent a year (g = 6%)• The company pays a 10 percent flotation cost whenever it issues new common stock (F = 10%)• The company's target capital structure is 75 percent equity and 25 percent debt.
• The company's tax rate is 40 percent.
• The company anticipates issuing new common stock during the upcoming year.
What is the company's WACC?

A) 10.67%
B) 11.22%
C) 11.47%
D) 12.02%
E) 12.56%

Question 63

J. Ross and Sons Inc. has a target capital structure that calls for 40 percent debt, 10 percent preferred stock, and 50 percent common equity. The firm's current after tax cost of debt is 6 percent, and it can sell as much debt as it wishes at this rate. The firm's preferred stock currently sells for $90 per share and pays a dividend of $10 per share; however, the firm will net only $80 per share from the sale of new preferred stock. Ross's common stock currently sells for $40 per share. The firm recently paid a dividend of $2 per share on its common stock, and investors expect the dividend to grow indefinitely at a constant rate of 10 percent per year.
What is the firm's cost of common stock, rs?

A) 10.0%
B) 12.5%
C) 15.5%
D) 16.5%
E) 18.0%

Question 64

J. Ross and Sons Inc. has a target capital structure that calls for 40 percent debt, 10 percent preferred stock, and 50 percent common equity. The firm's current after tax cost of debt is 6 percent, and it can sell as much debt as it wishes at this rate. The firm's preferred stock currently sells for $90 per share and pays a dividend of $10 per share; however, the firm will net only $80 per share from the sale of new preferred stock. Ross's common stock currently sells for $40 per share. The firm recently paid a dividend of $2 per share on its common stock, and investors expect the dividend to grow indefinitely at a constant rate of 10 percent per year.
What is the firm's weighted average cost of capital (WACC)?

A) 9.5%
B) 10.3%
C) 10.8%
D) 11.4%
E) 11.9%

Question 65

J. Ross and Sons Inc. has a target capital structure that calls for 40 percent debt, 10 percent preferred stock, and 50 percent common equity. The firm's current after tax cost of debt is 6 percent, and it can sell as much debt as it wishes at this rate. The firm's preferred stock currently sells for $90 per share and pays a dividend of $10 per share; however, the firm will net only $80 per share from the sale of new preferred stock. Ross's common stock currently sells for $40 per share. The firm recently paid a dividend of $2 per share on its common stock, and investors expect the dividend to grow indefinitely at a constant rate of 10 percent per year.
What is the firm's cost of newly issued preferred stock, rps?

A) 10.0%
B) 12.5%
C) 15.5%
D) 16.5%
E) 18.0%