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54. Which of the following statements is CORRECT?
The dividend growth model is generally preferred by academics and financial executives over other models for
estimating the cost of equity. This is because of the dividend growth model’s logical appeal and also because
accurate estimates for its key inputs, the dividend yield and the growth rate, are easy to obtain.
The bond-yield-plus-risk-premium approach to estimating the cost of equity may not always be accurate, but it
has the advantage that its two key inputs, the firm’s own cost of debt and its risk premium, can be found by
using standardized and objective procedures.
Surveys indicate that the CAPM is the most widely used method for estimating the cost of equity. However,
other methods are also used because CAPM estimates may be subject to error, and people like to use different
methods as checks on one another. If all of the methods produce similar results, this increases the decision
maker’s confidence in the estimated cost of equity.
The dividend growth model model is preferred by academics and finance practitioners over other cost of
capital models because it correctly recognizes that the expected return on a stock consists of a dividend yield
plus an expected capital gains yield.
Although some methods used to estimate the cost of equity are subject to severe limitations, the CAPM is a
simple, straightforward, and reliable model that consistently produces accurate cost of equity estimates. In
particular, academics and corporate finance people generally agree that its key inputs⎯beta, the risk-free rate,
and the market risk premium⎯can be estimated with little error.
Difficulty: Challenging
QUESTION TYPE:
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
United States – BUSPROG: Analytic
United States – AK – DISC: Capital budgeting and cost – DISC: Capital budgeting and cost of
capital
United States – OH – Default City – TBA
TOPICS:
TYPE: Multiple Choice: Conceptual
DATE CREATED:
1/6/2018 6:59 PM
55. Which of the following statements is CORRECT?
If the calculated beta underestimates the firm’s true investment risk⎯i.e., if the forward-looking beta that
investors think exists exceeds the historical beta⎯then the CAPM method based on the historical beta will
produce an estimate of rs and thus WACC that is too high.
Beta measures market risk, which is, theoretically, the most relevant risk measure for a publicly-owned firm
that seeks to maximize its intrinsic value. This is true even if not all of the firm’s stockholders are well
diversified.
An advantage shared by both the dividend growth model and CAPM methods when they are used to estimate
the cost of equity is that they are both “objective” as opposed to “subjective,” hence little or no judgment is
required.
The specific risk premium used in the CAPM is the same as the risk premium used in the bond-yield-plus-risk-
premium approach.