1. Chili’s Restaurants, Inc., is trying to determine its cost of debt. The firm has a debt issue outstanding with 18 years to maturity that is quoted at 107 percent of face value. The issue makes semiannual payments and has an embedded cost of 6 percent annually. What is the company’s pretax cost of debt? If the tax rate is 35 percent, what is the aftertax cost of debt?
2. Stock in Plantronics Industries has a beta of 1.1. The market risk premium is 7 percent, and T-bills are currently yielding 4.5 percent. The company’s most recent dividend was $1.70 per share, and dividends are expected to grow at a 6 percent annual rate indefinitely. If the stock sells for $39 per share, what is your best estimate of the company’s cost of equity?