The management of Clay Industries have adhered to the following capital structure: 50% debt, 35% common equity, and 15% perpetual preferred equity. The following information applies to the firm:
Before-tax cost of debt, i.e. yield to maturity of the outstanding senior long-term debt = 9.5%
Combined State/Federal tax rate = 35%
Cost of common equity = 14.45%
Annual preferred dividend = $2.75
Preferred stock net offering price = $28.50
Given this information, what is the Weighted Average Cost of Capital for Clay Industries?
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A. B. C. D. E. F.A
The calculation of the Weighted Average Cost of Capital is as follows: {fraction of debt * [yield to maturity of outstanding long-term debt][1-combined state/federal income tax rate]} + {fraction of preferred stock * [annual dividend/net offering price]} + {fraction of common stock * cost of equity}. The cost of common equity can be calculated using three methods, the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM), the Dividend-Yield-plus-Growth-Rate (or Discounted Cash Flow) approach, and the
Bond- Yield-plus-Risk-Premium approach. In this example, the cost of equity is given, so none of the three approaches is necessary. However, the cost of debt and preferred stock must be calculated. The cost of debt is found by multiplying the before tax cost of debt (9.5%) by (1-tax rate). Incorporating the given figures into this equation will yield a cost of debt at 6.175%. Determining the cost of perpetual preferred stock is relatively straightforward, simply divide the annual preferred dividend ($2.75) by the net price of preferred stock ($28.50), which yields a cost of preferred stock of 9.65%. These figures can now be incorporated into the WACC equation, which is provided below: {[50% debt * 9.5% * (1- 35%)] + [15% * ($2.75/$28.50)] + [35% * 14.45%]} = 9.60%