In an examination of several capital projects, the management of a large international conglomerate attempts to calculate the Weighted Average Cost of Capital for the firm. The Company is capitalized according to the following schedule based on market values: 55% debt
36% common stock
9% perpetual preferred stock
Additionally, assume the following information:
Yield on outstanding debt: 8.95%
Tax rate: 35%
Annual preferred dividend: $0.70
Preferred stock price: $8.90 -
Return on equity: 17.36%
Dividend payout ratio: 45%
Cost of common stock: 15.10%
Using this information, what is the WACC for this large multinational conglomerate?
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A. B. C. D. E. F.Explanation
In order to calculate the WACC, it is necessary to first calculate the component cost of debt, common equity, and preferred equity. Once the cost of these components is determined, they are imputed into the WACC equation, which is as follows: {WACC = [(% weight of debt securities * cost of debt) + (% weight of common stock * cost of common stock) + (% weight of preferred stock * cost of preferred stock)]}
To calculate the component cost of debt, use the following equation:
{Cost of debt = [yield on outstanding debt securities * (1 - tax rate)}
Factoring in the given information into this equation would yield the following:
{After-tax cost of debt = [8.95% * (1 - 0.35%)]} = 5.818%
To calculate the component cost of outstanding preferred stock, the following equation must be used:
{Cost of preferred stock = [annual dividend / preferred stock price]}
{Cost of preferred stock - = [$0.70 / $8.90]} = 7.865%.
The final component of the WACC calculation, the cost of common equity, has been provided as 15.10%.
Now that the after-tax costs of debt, preferred stock, and common stock have been determined, the WACC calculation can be found. The calculation of the WACC is as follows:
{[0.55 * 0.05818] + [0.36 * 0.1510] + [0.09 * 0.07865]} = 9.344%.