Chapter 11, Problem 14PROB

Summary Introduction

Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC) is the required rate of return investors would expect from the company. If a company uses a combination of financing alternatives to fund its business, it should calculate an average cost of capital. Various long term funds include debt, equity and preferred stock. Regardless of the mode of financing for a project, a company’s WACC should be considered in making capital budgeting decisions.

An optimal capital structure of a company is a mix of debt, equity and preferred stock which can be used to maximize the company’s stock price. Therefore, a target proportion of capital structure and cost of each financing can be used to determine the WACC of the company.

$WACC=w_d\left(r_{dT}\right)+w_{ps}\left(r_{ps}\right)+w_s\left(r_{s}or{r}_e\right)$

Here,

Proportion of debt in the target capital structure “$w_d$”

Proportion of preferred stock in the target capital structure “$w_{ps}$

Proportion of equity in the target capital structure “$w_s$”

After tax cost of debt, preferred stock, retained earnings and new equity is “$r_{dT}$”,“$r_{ps}$”,“$r_s$”and “$r_e$”, respectively.

The company’s capital structure is 40% debt and 60% equity. YTM on new bonds is 5%, cost of retained earnings and new common stock is 8% and 11% respectively.