WACC AND OPTIMAL CAPITAL STRUCTURE Elliott Athletics is trying to determine its optimal capital structure, which now consists of only debt and common equity. The firm dots not currently use
Elliott uses the
- a. What is the firm's optimal capital structure, and what would be its WACC at the optimal capital structure?
- b. If Elliott's managers anticipate that the company's business risk will increase in the future, what effect would this likely have on the firm's target capital structure?
- c. If Congress were to dramatically increase the corporate tax rate, what effect would this likely have on Elliott's target capital structure?
- d. Plot a graph of the after-tax cost of debt, the
cost of equity , and the WACC versus (1) - e. the debt/capital ratio and (2) the debt /equity ratio.
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Chapter 14 Solutions
Fundamentals of Financial Management
- WACC and Optimal Capital Structure F. Pierce Products Inc. is considering changing its capital structure. F. Pierce currently has no debt and no preferred stock, but it would like to add some debt to take advantage of low interest rates and the tax shield. Its investment banker has indicated that the pre-tax cost of debt under various possible capital structures would be as follows: F. Pierce uses the CAPM to estimate its cost of common equity, rs and at the time of the analysis the risk-free rate is 5%, the market risk premium is 6%, and the companys tax rate is 40%. F. Pierce estimates that its beta now (which is unlevered because it currently has no debt) is 0.8. Based on this information, what is the firms optimal capital structure, and what would be the weighted average cost of capital at the optimal capital structure?arrow_forwardUsing CFO Sheila Dowling’s projected weighted-average-cost of capital (WACC) schedule, what discount rate would you choose? What flaws, if any, might be inherent in using the WACC as the discount rate?arrow_forwardBIE The Cost of Capital: Weighted Averige cost of capital The firm's target capital structure is the mix of debt, presured stack, and common equity the firm plans to mise funds for future projects. The target proportions of debt, preferred stock, and common equity, along with the cost of these I components, are used to calculate the firm's weighted average cost of capital (WACC). If the firm will not have to issue new common study then the cost of retained earnings is used in the firm's WACC calculation. However, if the firm will I have to issue new common stock, the cost of new common stock should be used in the firm's WALC calculation. Barton Industines expects that its target capital Structure for finds in the future for its raising capital budget will consist of 40% debt, 5% prefence stock, and 55% common equity. Note that the firm's marginal tax rate is 25%. Assume that the firm's cost of debt, rd is 10.0%, the firm's cost of preferred stock, rp is 9.2.%. and the firm's cost of…arrow_forward
- Which of the following statements is most correct? Group of answer choices The optimal capital structure maximizes the WACC. None of these. Increasing the amount of debt in a firm's capital structure is likely to increase the cost of both debt and equity financing. If the after-tax cost of equity financing exceeds the after-tax cost of debt financing, firms are always able to reduce their WACC by increasing the amount of debt in their capital structure.arrow_forward6. Backroads Sporting Goods is trying to determine its optimal capital structure, which now consists of only debt and common equity. The firm does not currently use preferred stock in its capital structure, and it does not plan to do so in the future. To estimate how much its debt would cost at different debt levels, the company's treasury staff has consulted with investment bankers and, on the basis of those cussions, has created the following table: 4 Debt-to-Capital Ratio 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 a 9.56% h 10.48% Equity-to- Capital Ratio 11.13% d. 11.45% e. 12.25 % (w.) 1.0 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 Debt-to-Equity Ratio (D/E) 0.00 0.25 0.67 1.50 4.00 Bond Rating A BBB BB Before-Tax Cost of Debt 65% 7.5 9.5 D Backroads uses the CAPM to estimate its cost of common equity. r.. The company estimates that the risk-free rate is 6%, the market risk premium is 5%, and its tax rate is 40%. Backroads estimates that if it had no debt, its "unlevered" beta, bu, would be 1.25. On the basis of this information,…arrow_forward4. Determining the optimal capital structure Understanding the optimal capital structure Review this situation: Transworld Consortium Corp. is trying to identify its optimal capital structure. Transworld Consortium Corp. has gathered the following financial information to help with the analysis. Debt Ratio Equity Ratio EPS DPS Stock Price 30% 70% 1.25 0.55 36.25 40% 60% 1.40 0.60 37.75 50% 50% 1.60 0.65 39.50 60% 40% 1.85 0.75 38.75 70% 30% 1.75 0.70 38.25 Which capital structure shown in the preceding table is Transworld Consortium Corp.’s optimal capital structure? Debt ratio = 30%; equity ratio = 70% Debt ratio = 40%; equity ratio = 60% Debt ratio = 50%; equity ratio = 50% Debt ratio = 60%; equity ratio = 40% Debt ratio = 70%; equity ratio = 30%arrow_forward
- OOOO As a financial analyst for a firm looking to make an investment in its operations, you are tasked with determining how upcoming projects are financed. Because the board of directors decided years ago that it would not offer preferred stock, the firm is comprised of only debt and equity financing. Given the following analysis of optional capital Ostructures, which is the optimal capital structure? Proportion of Debt After-Tax Cost Cost of Weighted Financing of Debt Equity Cost 0% 5% 9% 9.00% 10% 5% 9% 8.60% 20% 5% 9% 8.20% 30% 5% 9% 7.80% 40% 5% 10% 8.00% 50% 6% 11% 8.50% 60% 7% 13% 9.40% 70% 10% 17% 12.10% 80% 12% 20% 13.60% 90% 15% 25% 16.00% 100% 18% 25% 18.00% • . O · O 0 a. 30 percent b. 40 percent O c. 100 percent O d. 0 percent Icon Kovarrow_forwardIf interaction effects make it difficult for a firm to adjust its capital structure based on prevailing conditions, then Group of answer choices the firm should use as much debt financing as possible when it is financially healthy in order to benefit from lower corporate taxes the firm should target a 50% debt/50% equity capital structure the firm should choose the capital structure that will minimize all transaction costs--both direct and indirect the firm should use more equity financing than is necessarily optimal todayarrow_forwardAaron Athletics is trying to determine its optimal capital structure. The company’s capital structure consists of debt and common equity. In order to estimate the cost of capital at various debt levels the company has constructed the following table: Percent financed with debt (wD) Percent financed with equity (ws) Before tax cost of debt 0.10 0.90 7.0% 0.20 0.80 7.2% 0.30 0.70 8.0% 0.40 0.60 8.8% 0.50 0.50 9.6% The company uses the CAPM to estimate its cost of equity, rS . The risk-free rate is 4% and the market risk premium is 5%. Aaron estimates that if it had no debt its beta would be 1.0. (It’s unlevered beta equals 1.0). The company’s tax rate is 40%. On the basis of this information, what is the company’s optimal capital structure, and what is the WACC at that capital structure? (Show your calculations at each debt level).arrow_forward
- Ilumina Corp is trying to determine its optimal capital structure. The company’s capital structure consists of debt and common stock. In order to estimate the cost of debt, the company has produced the following table: Percent financed with debt (wd) Percent financed with equity (wc) Debt-to-equity ratio (D/S) After-tax cost of debt (%) 0.25 0.75 0.25/0.75 = 0.33 6.9% 0.35 0.65 0.35/0.65 = 0.5385 7.1% 0.50 0.50 0.50/0.50 = 1.00 8.0% The company uses the CAPM to estimate its cost of common equity, rs. The risk-free rate is 5% and the market risk premium is 6%. Ilumina estimates that its beta with 10% debt is 1. The company’s tax rate, T, is 40%. On the basis of this information, what is the company’s optimal capital structure, and what is the firm’s cost of capital at this optimal capital structure? (Please show work)arrow_forwardThe Cost of Capital: Cost of New Common Stock If a firm plans to issue new stock, flotation costs (investment bankers' fees) should not be ignored. There are two approaches to use to account for flotation costs. The first approach is to add the sum of flotation costs for the debt, preferred, and common stock and add them to the initial investment cost. Because the investment cost is increased, the project's expected return is reduced so it may not meet the firm's hurdle rate for acceptance of the project. The second approach involves adjusting the cost of common equity as follows:The difference between the flotation-adjusted cost of equity and the cost of equity calculated without the flotation adjustment represents the flotation cost adjustment. Quantitative Problem: Barton Industries expects next year's annual dividend, D1, to be $1.80 and it expects dividends to grow at a constant rate g = 4.2%. The firm's current common stock price, P0, is $20.60. If it needs to issue new common…arrow_forwardUnderstanding the impact of debt in the capital structure Suppose you are conducting a workshop on capital structure decisions and you want to highlight certain key issues related to capital structure. Your assistant has made a list of points for your session, but he thinks he might have made some mistakes. Review the Ilist and identify which items are correct. Check all that apply. Workshop Talking Points An increase in debt financing beyond a certain point is likely to increase the firm's cost of equity. An increase in debt financing decreases the risk of bankruptcy. An increase in the risk of bankruptcy is likely to reduce a firm's free cash flows in the future. Risks of bankruptcy increase management spending on perquisites and increase agency costs. The pretax cost of debt increases as a firm's risk of bankruptcy increases.arrow_forward
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