CHAPTER 16 B – 2
14. a. Since the firm has a 100 percent payout policy, the entire net income, $115,000 will be paid as a
dividend. The current value of the firm is the discounted value one year from now, plus the
current income, which is:
b. The current stock price is the value of the firm, divided by the shares outstanding, which is:
Stock price = $1,601,486.49/30,000
Stock price = $53.38
Since the company has a 100 percent payout policy, the current dividend per share will be the
company’s net income, divided by the shares outstanding, or:
c. i. According to MM, it cannot be true that the low dividend is depressing the price. Since
dividend policy is irrelevant, the level of the dividend should not matter. Any funds not
distributed as dividends add to the value of the firm, hence the stock price. These directors
merely want to change the timing of the dividends (more now, less in the future). As the
calculations below indicate, the value of the firm is unchanged by their proposal. Therefore,
share price will be unchanged.
To show this, consider what would happen if the dividend was increased to $5.25. Since
only the existing shareholders will get the dividend, the required dollar amount to pay the
dividends is: