You Currently Own 250 Shares of Pluto, Inc

Multiple Choice

You currently own 250 shares of Pluto, Inc. Pluto is an all equity firm that has 36,000 shares of stock outstanding at a market price of $25 a share. The company's earnings before interest and taxes are $48,000. Pluto, Inc. has decided to issue $200,000 of debt at a 9% rate of interest. This debt will be used to repurchase shares of stock. How many shares of Pluto, Inc. stock must you sell to unlever your position if you can lend out funds at a 9% rate of interest?

A) 43 shares
B) 51 shares
C) 56 shares
D) 64 shares
E) 72 shares