Prompt 1
MM’s dividend irrelevance theory states that dividend policy does not affect either stock prices or the required rate of return on equity. This implies that shareholders should be indifferent as to which form of payout the firm chooses. At the same time, firms spend a good amount of resources over planning their payout policies.

• Discuss why firms spend so much time and money planning their payout policies if it doesn’t affect stock or the required rate of return on equity?

Prompt 2
Now, read the description/report below (from page 497-9 of your textbook).

We forecasted the total market demand for our products, what our share of the market is likely to be, and our required investments in capital assets and working capital. Using this information, we developed projected balance sheets and income statements for the period 2015–2019.

Our 2014 dividends totaled $50 million, or $2.00 per share. On the basis of projected earnings, cash flows, and capital requirements, we can increase the dividend by 6% per year. This would be consistent with a payout ratio of 42%, on average, over the forecast period. Any faster dividend growth rate would require us to sell common stock, cut the capital budget, or raise the debt ratio. Any slower growth rate would lead to increases in the common equity ratio. Therefore, I recommend that the Board increase the dividend for 2015 by 6%, to $2.12, and that it plan for similar increases in the future.

Events over the next 5 years will undoubtedly lead to differences between our forecasts and actual results. If and when such events occur, we should reexamine our position. However, I am confident that we can meet random cash shortfalls by increasing our borrowings—we have unused debt capacity that gives us flexibility in this regard.

We ran the corporate model under several scenarios. If the economy totally collapses, our earnings will not cover the dividend. However, in all likely scenarios our cash flows would cover the recommended dividend. I know the Board does not want to push the dividend up to a level where we would have to cut it under poor economic conditions. Our model runs indicate, though, that the $2.12 dividend could be maintained under any reasonable set of forecasts. Only if we increased the dividend to more than $3.00 would we be seriously exposed to the danger of having to reduce it.

I might also note that most analysts’ reports are forecasting that our dividends will grow in the 5% to 6% range. Thus, if we go to $2.12, we will be at the high end of the forecast range, which should give our stock a boost. With takeover rumors so widespread, getting the stock price up a bit would make us all breathe a little easier.

Finally, we considered distributing cash to shareholders through a stock repurchase program. Here we would reduce the dividend payout ratio and use the funds generated to buy our stock on the open market. Such a program has several advantages, but it would also have drawbacks. I do not recommend that we institute a stock repurchase program at this time. However, if our free cash flows exceed our forecasts, I would recommend that we use these surpluses to buy back stock. Also, I plan to continue looking into a regular repurchase program, and I may recommend such a program in the future.

• Discuss how stable this firm seems to be based on the payout policy they are undertaking.

Multiple Choice

• $-33,676.58

• $-31,222.32

• $-106,712.05

• $-35,360.41

17. An one-year European call option has the strike price of $60. The underlying stock pays no dividend and currently sells for $70. One time step is six months long, and the stock price may move up or down by 10% in each step. The risk-free rate is 3% per annum. (a) What is the risk-neutral probability of an increase in the stock price in each step? (b) What is the time-0 current price of the call? (c) Find the replicating portfolio that we construct in time 0 to generate the same value as the call six months later. (d) Suppose that risk-averse investors require the stock return to be 12% per annum. In the approach of Discounted Cash Flow, what is the discount rate for the call per annum?

1. a bond has a face (maturity) value of $1000, 5 years til maturity, an annual coupon rate of 7% and ayield to maturity of 5%. how much willl the bond price change in 1 year if the yield remains constant?

2. What is the current yield on the bond at 1year and year 2?

QUESTION 96

1. A baseball player is offered a contract that will pay $1,455,382 per year for 5 years, followed by $2,113,877 per year for 3 years, followed by $2,633,054 per year for 7 years. All contract payments are paid at the end of the year. If the player's required rate of return is 5.7%, how much is this contract worth? State your answer to the nearest whole dollar.

QUESTION 97

1. A company is considering the purchase of a new production line that it has estimated will generate the following annual cash flows:  $5,710,498 per year for 8 years, followed by $7,672,287 per year for 2 years, followed by $3,519,326 per year for 15 years. All cash flows will be received at the end of the year. If the company's required rate of return is 12.4%, what is the maximum price at which the company will purchase this new line? State your answer to the nearest whole dollar.

QUESTION 98

1. Assume that you will receive $8,766 per year for 4 years, followed by $4,590 per year for 8 years, followed by $7,686 per year for 3 years. All cash flows are to be received at the end of the year. If the required rate of return is 14.9%, what is the present value of these cash flows? State your answer to the nearest whole dollar.

QUESTION 99

1. What is the present value of a 28-year ordinary annuity with annual payments of $118,60480,000, evaluated at a 7.1 percent interest rate? State your answer to the nearest whole dollar.

QUESTION 100

1. What is the effective annual interest rate on an investment that quotes a nominal annual rate of 8.79% compounded quarterly? State your answer as a percentage to 2 decimal places

Lease or purchase fixed assets, the pros and cons and how does it effect corporate strategy?? Please Explain In Detail

Kim Inc. must install a new air conditioning unit in its main plant. Kim must install one or the other of the units; otherwise, the highly profitable plant would have to shut down. Two units are available, HCC and LCC (for high and low capital costs, respectively). HCC has a high capital cost but relatively low operating costs, while LCC has a low capital cost but higher operating costs because it uses more electricity. The costs of the units are shown here. Kim's WACC is 7.5%.

1. Which unit would you recommend?
   1. Since all of the cash flows are negative, the IRR's will be negative and we do not accept any project that has a negative IRR.
   2. Since all of the cash flows are negative, the NPV's cannot be calculated and an alternative method must be employed.
   3. Since all of the cash flows are negative, the NPV's will be negative and we do not accept any project that has a negative NPV.
   4. Since we are examining costs, the unit chosen would be the one that had the lower NPV of costs. Since LCC's NPV of costs is lower than HCC's, LCC would be chosen.
   5. Since we are examining costs, the unit chosen would be the one that had the lower NPV of costs. Since HCC's NPV of costs is lower than LCC's, HCC would be chosen.
   
   
2. If Kim's controller wanted to know the IRRs of the two projects, what would you tell him?
   1. The IRR of each project will be positive at a lower WACC.
   2. There are multiple IRR's for each project.
   3. The IRR of each project is negative and therefore not useful for decision-making.
   4. The IRR cannot be calculated because the cash flows are all one sign. A change of sign would be needed in order to calculate the IRR.
   5. The IRR cannot be calculated because the cash flows are in the form of an annuity.
   
   
3. If the WACC rose to 15% would this affect your recommendation?
   1. Since all of the cash flows are negative, the NPV's will be negative and we do not accept any project that has a negative NPV.
   2. When the WACC increases to 15%, the NPV of costs are now lower for LCC than HCC.
   3. When the WACC increases to 15%, the NPV of costs are now lower for HCC than LCC.
   4. When the WACC increases to 15%, the IRR for LCC is greater than the IRR for HCC, LCC would be chosen.
   5. When the WACC increases to 15%, the IRR for HCC is greater than the IRR for LCC, HCC would be chosen.
   
   
   
   Explain your answer and the reason this result occurred.
   1. The reason is that when you discount at a higher rate you are making negative CFs higher and this lowers the NPV.
   2. The reason is that when you discount at a higher rate you are making negative CFs smaller and this lowers the NPV.
   3. The reason is that when you discount at a higher rate you are making negative CFs smaller thus improving the NPV.
   4. The reason is that when you discount at a higher rate you are making negative CFs higher thus improving the IRR.
   5. The reason is that when you discount at a higher rate you are making negative CFs higher thus improving the NPV.

Draft an individual investment policy statement as a guide to your future investment planning thus bringing out the advantages of having an investment policy statement

Abe Simpson’s Historical Aircraft, Inc. (ASHAI) is considering adding a rare World War II B-24 bomber to its collection of vintage aircraft. The plane was forced down in Burma 1942, and it has remained there ever since. Flying a crew to Burma and collecting the wreckage will cost $100,000. Transporting the parts to the company’s restoration facility in Springfield will cost another $35,000. Restoring the plane to flyable condition will cost an additional $600,000 at t0.

ASHAI’s operating costs will increase by $40,000 a year at the end of years 1 through 7. At the end of years 3 through 7, revenues from exhibiting the plane at airshows will be $70,000. At the end of year 7, the plane will be retired. At that time the plane will be sold to a museum for $500,000.

The plane falls into the 7 year MACRS depreciation schedule. ASHAI’s tax rate is 35% and the company’s required return on the project is 12%. Calculate the NPV and IRR of the proposed investment in the plane.

The market portfolio has expected return of 12% and risk of 19%, and the risk free rate is 5%. According to the capital market line (the line that connects the risk free rate to efficient frontier), what is the portfolio weight for the risky market portfolio if an investor wants to achieve 8.5% return? What about 16.2%? And 19% return?

6.2     Complete the following table. Assume that the real interest rate is 3% per year, and inflation is expected to be constant at 2% per year. Recall that nominal cash flows must be discounted using nominal rates, and real cash flows must be discounted using real rates.                                                      

Note that present values are taken at time 0, at which point real cash flows and nominal cash flows are the same, because there is no time for inflation to affect the cash flows.

This implies that the present values of the two series of cash flows should be exactly the same.

Hint: You may want to recall the $1 chocolate bar example from question 5.2 to assist you with calculating the real cash flows.

Note that you can use the CF function of the Texas Instruments BA II Plus calculator (similar on the HP 10BII series and Sharp EL738 series financial calculators) to calculate the NPV of these cash flows. See your user’s manual or a YouTube video to learn how to use this function.

Use the following information on Filmore Corporation to calculate its WACC. 10,000 bonds with face value of $1,000 matures in 5 years, has 8% coupon rate, pays coupons semiannually, and currently sells for $1,050. 1,000,000 common shares sell for $40 per share. The dividend next year will be $2, and dividends are expected to grow at 6% constantly. It has no preferred stock. Its tax rate is 35%. What is Filmore Corporation's WACC? show the steps

Your division is considering two projects with the following cash flows (in millions):

What are the projects' NPVs assuming the WACC is 5%? Enter your answer in millions. For example, an answer of $10,550,000 should be entered as 10.55. Negative values, if any, should be indicated by a minus sign. Do not round intermediate calculations. Round your answer to two decimal places.

What are the projects' NPVs assuming the WACC is 10%? Enter your answer in millions. For example, an answer of $10,550,000 should be entered as 10.55. Negative values, if any, should be indicated by a minus sign. Do not round intermediate calculations. Round your answer to two decimal places.

What are the projects' NPVs assuming the WACC is 15%? Enter your answer in millions. For example, an answer of $10,550,000 should be entered as 10.55. Negative values, if any, should be indicated by a minus sign. Do not round intermediate calculations. Round your answer to two decimal places.

What are the projects' IRRs assuming the WACC is 5%? Do not round intermediate calculations. Round your answer to two decimal places.

What are the projects' IRRs assuming the WACC is 10%? Do not round intermediate calculations. Round your answer to two decimal places.

What are the projects' IRRs assuming the WACC is 15%? Do not round intermediate calculations. Round your answer to two decimal places.

If the WACC was 5% and A and B were mutually exclusive, which project would you choose? (Hint: The crossover rate is 48.57%.)

If the WACC was 10% and A and B were mutually exclusive, which project would you choose? (Hint: The crossover rate is 48.57%.)

If the WACC was 15% and A and B were mutually exclusive, which project would you choose? (Hint: The crossover rate is 48.57%.)

Thank you.