a. True
b. False
Answer Choices:
a. True
b. False
Answer: b. False
Question: In general, firms should use their weighted average cost of capital (WACC) to evaluate capital budgeting projects because most projects are funded with general corporate funds, which come from a variety of sources. However, if the firm plans to use only debt or only equity to fund a particular project, it should use the after-tax cost of that specific type of capital to evaluate that project.
a. True
b. False
Answer Choices:
a. True
b. False
Answer: b. False
Rationale
In general, this statement is false, because the firm should be viewed as an ongoing entity, and using debt (or equity) to fund a given project will change the capital structure, and this factor should be recognized by basing the cost of capital for all projects on a target capital structure. Under some special circumstances, where a project is set up as a separate entity, then “project financing” may be used, and only the project’s specific situation is considered. This is a specific situation, however, and not the “in general” case.
Question: Cranberry Corp. has two divisions of equal size: a computer manufacturing division and a data processing division. Its CFO believes that stand-alone processor companies typically have a WACC of 8%, while stand-alone computer manufacturers typically have a 12% WACC. He also believes that the data processing and manufacturing divisions have the same risk as their typical peers. Consequently, he estimates that the composite, or corporate, WACC is 10%. A consultant has suggested using an 8% hurdle rate for the data processing division and a 12% hurdle rate for the manufacturing division. However, the CFO disagrees, and he has assigned a 10% WACC to all projects in both divisions. Which of the following statements is CORRECT?
Answer Choices:
a. While the decision to use just one WACC will result in its accepting more projects in the manufacturing division and fewer projects in its data processing division than if it followed the consultant’s recommendation, this should not affect the firm’s intrinsic value.
b. The decision not to adjust for risk means, in effect, that it is favoring the data processing division. Therefore, that division is likely to become a larger part of the consolidated company over time.
c. The decision not to adjust for risk means that the company will accept too many projects in the manufacturing division and too few in the data processing division. This will lead to a reduction in the firm’s intrinsic value over time.
d. The decision not to risk-adjust means that the company will accept too many projects in the data processing business and too few projects in the manufacturing business. This will lead to a reduction in its intrinsic value over time.
e. The decision not to risk adjust means that the company will accept too many projects in the manufacturing business and too few projects in the data processing business. This may affect the firm’s capital structure but it will not affect its intrinsic value.
Answer: c. The decision not to adjust for risk means that the company will accept too many projects in the manufacturing division and too few in the data processing division. This will lead to a reduction in the firm’s intrinsic value over time.
Question: For capital budgeting and cost of capital purposes, the firm should assume that each dollar of capital is obtained in accordance with its target capital structure, which for many firms means partly as debt, partly as preferred stock, and partly common equity.
a. True
b. False
Answer Choices:
a. True
b. False
Answer: a. True
Question: Which of the following statements is CORRECT?
Answer Choices:
a. The discounted cash flow method of estimating the cost of equity cannot be used unless the growth rate, g, is expected to be constant forever.
b. The DCF model is generally preferred by academics and financial executives over other models for estimating the cost of equity. This is because of the DCF model’s logical appeal and also because accurate estimates for its key inputs, the dividend yield and the growth rate, are easy to obtain.
c. 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.
d. 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.
e. The DCF 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.
Answer: d. 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.
Question: Conflicts between two mutually exclusive projects occasionally occur, where the NPV method ranks one project higher but the IRR method puts the other one first. In theory, such conflicts should be resolved in favor of the project with the higher NPV.
Answer Choices:
a. True
b. False
Answer: a. True
Question: The cost of equity raised by retaining earnings can be less than, equal to, or greater than the cost of external equity raised by selling new issues of common stock, depending on tax rates, flotation costs, the attitude of investors, and other factors.
a. True
b. False
Answer Choices:
a. True
b. False
Answer: a. True
Question: A firm should never accept a project if its acceptance would lead to an increase in the firm’s cost of capital (its WACC).
Answer Choices:
a. True
b. False
Answer: b. False
Question: LaPango Inc. estimates that its average-risk projects have a WACC of 10%, its below-average risk projects have a WACC of 8%, and its above-average risk projects have a WACC of 12%. Which of the following projects (A, B, and C) should the company accept?
a. Project B, which is of below-average risk and has a return of 8.5%.
b. Project C, which is of above-average risk and has a return of 11%.
c. Project A, which is of average risk and has a return of 9%.
d. None of the projects should be accepted.
e. All of the projects should be accepted.
Answer Choices:
a. Project B, which is of below-average risk and has a return of 8.5%.
b. Project C, which is of above-average risk and has a return of 11%.
c. Project A, which is of average risk and has a return of 9%.
d. None of the projects should be accepted.
e. All of the projects should be accepted.
Answer: a. Project B, which is of below-average risk and has a return of 8.5%.
Question: The text identifies three methods for estimating the cost of common stock from retained earnings: the CAPM method, the DCF method, and the bond-yield-plus-risk-premium method. Since we cannot be sure that the estimate obtained with any of these methods is correct, it is often appropriate to use all three methods, then consider all three estimates, and end up using a judgmental estimate when calculating the WACC.
a. True
b. False
Answer Choices:
a. True
b. False
Answer: a. True
Question: Conflicts between two mutually exclusive projects occasionally occur, where the NPV method ranks one project higher but the IRR method puts the other one first. In theory, such conflicts should be resolved in favor of the project with the higher IRR.
Answer Choices:
a. True
b. False
Answer: b. False
Question: Which of the following statements is CORRECT?
Answer Choices:
a. The component cost of preferred stock is expressed as rp(1 – T). This follows because preferred stock dividends are treated as fixed charges, and as such they can be deducted by the issuer for tax purposes.
b. A cost should be assigned to retained earnings due to the opportunity cost principle, which refers to the fact that the firm’s stockholders would themselves expect to earn a return on earnings that were paid out rather than retained and reinvested.
c. No cost should be assigned to retained earnings because the firm does not have to pay anything to raise them. They are generated as cash flows by operating assets that were raised in the past, hence they are “free.”
d. Suppose a firm has been losing money and thus is not paying taxes, and this situation is expected to persist into the foreseeable future. In this case, the firm’s before-tax and after-tax costs of debt for purposes of calculating the WACC will both be equal to the interest rate on the firm’s currently outstanding debt, provided that debt was issued during the past 5 years.
e. If a firm has enough retained earnings to fund its capital budget for the coming year, then there is no need to estimate either a cost of equity or a WACC.
Answer: b. A cost should be assigned to retained earnings due to the opportunity cost principle, which refers to the fact that the firm’s stockholders would themselves expect to earn a return on earnings that were paid out rather than retained and reinvested.
Question: Which of the following statements is CORRECT?
Answer Choices:
a. Since the costs of internal and external equity are related, an increase in the flotation cost required to sell a new issue of stock will increase the cost of retained earnings.
b. Since its stockholders are not directly responsible for paying a corporation’s income taxes, corporations should focus on before-tax cash flows when calculating the WACC.
c. An increase in a firm’s tax rate will increase the component cost of debt, provided the YTM on the firm’s bonds is not affected by the change in the tax rate.
d. When the WACC is calculated, it should reflect the costs of new common stock, retained earnings, preferred stock, long-term debt, short-term bank loans if the firm normally finances with bank debt, and accounts payable if the firm normally has accounts payable on its balance sheet.
e. If a firm has been suffering accounting losses that are expected to continue into the foreseeable future, and therefore its tax rate is zero, then it is possible for the after-tax cost of preferred stock to be less than the after-tax cost of debt.
Answer: e. If a firm has been suffering accounting losses that are expected to continue into the foreseeable future, and therefore its tax rate is zero, then it is possible for the after-tax cost of preferred stock to be less than the after-tax cost of debt.
Question: Which of the following statements is CORRECT?
Answer Choices:
a. The bond-yield-plus-risk-premium approach to estimating the cost of common equity involves adding a risk premium to the interest rate on the company’s own long-term bonds. The size of the risk premium for bonds with different ratings is published daily in The Wall Street Journal or is available online.
b. The WACC is calculated using a before-tax cost for debt that is equal to the interest rate that must be paid on new debt, along with the after-tax costs for common stock and for preferred stock if it is used.
c. An increase in the risk-free rate is likely to reduce the marginal costs of both debt and equity.
d. The relevant WACC can change depending on the amount of funds a firm raises during a given year. Moreover, the WACC at each level of funds raised is a weighted average of the marginal costs of each capital component, with the weights based on the firm’s target capital structure.
e. Beta measures market risk, which is generally the most relevant risk measure for a publicly-owned firm that seeks to maximize its intrinsic value. However, this is not true unless all of the firm’s stockholders are well diversified.
Answer: d. The relevant WACC can change depending on the amount of funds a firm raises during a given year. Moreover, the WACC at each level of funds raised is a weighted average of the marginal costs of each capital component, with the weights based on the firm’s target capital structure.
Question: The higher the firm’s flotation cost for new common equity, the more likely the firm is to use preferred stock, which has no flotation cost, and retained earnings, whose cost is the average return on the assets that are acquired.
a. True
b. False
Answer Choices:
a. True
b. False
Answer: b. False