financially stable firms to cease paying cash dividends.
C. The majority of firms either started paying or increased their dividends per share in
response to the May 2003 change in dividend taxation.
D. Firms tend to prefer cash dividends over share repurchases for their flexibility and
tax benefits.
E. A non-dividend-paying firm is more apt to do a stock repurchase than to commence
paying dividends.
Answer:
Aaron’s Rentals has 58,000 shares of common stock outstanding at a market price of
$36 a share. The common stock just paid a $1.64 annual dividend and has a dividend
growth rate of 2.8 percent. There are 12,000 shares of 6 percent preferred stock
outstanding at a market price of $51 a share. The preferred stock has a par value of
$100. The outstanding bonds mature in 17 years, have a total face value of $750,000, a
face value per bond of $1,000, and a market price of $1,011 each. The bonds pay 8
percent interest, semiannually. The tax rate is 34 percent. What is the firm’s weighted
average cost of capital?
A. 7.74 percent
B. 8.68 percent
C. 9.29 percent
D. 9.97 percent
E. 10.30 percent
Answer: