Preferred Stock Valuation - CFA® Level 1 Exam | Test Prep

Is the Preferred Stock Overvalued, Undervalued, or Correctly Valued?

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Question

Consider the following preferred stock:

Price per share: $12.55 -

Semiannual dividend per share: $0.725

Required return: 11.50% per year

Is the preferred stock realistically overvalued, undervalued, or correctly valued? Further, should this preferred stock be valued as a perpetuity or a finite series of cash flows? (Assume a long-term holding period).

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Explanations

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A

The preferred stock profiled in this example is trading very close to its theoretical value, which is found as $12.61.

To determine the value of a preferred stock, use the following equation; {P0 = [d1 / k]}

Where:P0 = the price of the preferred stock at time 0, d1 = the annual dividend at t = 1, and k = the required rate of return.

In this example, the dividend is provided as a semiannual figure, which must be doubled to show the annual dividend. After this adjustment has been made, the value of the preferred stock can be found as follows.

{P0 = [$1.45 / 0.115] = $12.61.

Preferred stock is commonly valued as a perpetuity because there is no finite conclusion to the projected series of cash flows for a preferred stock. Unlike a bond, whose cash flows are characterized by a finite lifespan (i.e. the cash flows of a bond cease at maturity), the cash flows (dividends) produced by a preferred stock could theoretically last forever.