COST OF CAPITAL EXERCISE The Stone Meat Corporation is a medium sized agricultural products company headquartered in Ogden, Utah. Its primary products are beef, pork and poultry and include packaged deli meats to half animals sold directly to in-store butcher markets in the retail grocery stores. They also supply their own butcher packs to various retail outlets including grocery stores, big box stores, and restaurants. In addition, they have their own factory store. The firm's products are well recognized within the markets in terms of quality and food safety. During the 2000's and the early 2010's sales and earnings had grown rapidly. Sales in 2002 were approximately $60 million, but had reached $180 million by 2012. Per share earnings and dividends more than kept pace. The relevant figures are contained in Exhibit 1. In order to support the firm's expansion, substantial expenditures on plant and equipment were required during the period indicated. The majority of funds came from retained earnings and the private placement of debentures with insurance companies. In 2004, however, the company was forced to sell additional common stock because it felt that the debt level, which would ensue from trying to borrow the money to keep up its expansion program, would be excessive. In particular, possible adverse effects in its stock price were feared since, at the time, the firm's ratio of debt to total capitalization was already somewhat above the industry average of 30 percent. The firm's balance sheet as of December 31, 2012 is shown in Exhibit 1. Originally, the company's Board of Directors had established a policy of paying out half its annual earnings as dividends. The actual percentage varied from year to year because an attempt was made to stabilize the dividends despite fluctuating profit. By the late 2000's, this policy had been revised to set one third of earnings as the target pay out ratio due to the continuing need for capital. At their last annual meeting, the Directors announced that the 2012 dividend would be 60 cents per share, payable quarterly in 15 cent installments. The company's stock is listed on the AMEX and trades actively. The range of yearly stock prices is included in Exhibit 1. The closing price on June 30, 2012 was $24. Market data indicated that Stone was somewhat less risky than the market as a whole with a beta of .80. Returns on the market were averaging approximately 12% and risk free borrowing was still low following the financial meltdown of 2008. These rates averaged 3.5%. Preferred stock, which had been issued many years ago as a part of a financial deal, was selling at $90 per share. Tax rates had averaged 30% over the last few years. Early in 2012, the treasurer of Stone was reviewing its investment and financing strategies with an eye toward improving both. The question as to an appropriate cut off ratio of return on new investments was of special concern. The treasurer was of the opinion that many capital expenditures had been made in the past without proper analysis. He wanted a figure he could justify to the firm's managers as a cost of capital in order to achieve a more accurate capital budgeting procedure throughout the organization. He felt this was an especially timely move in view of an article he had just read in the WSJ and which is reproduced in Exhibit Ill. Stone's own long range planning group had earlier forecast a trend not unlike that indicated in the Journal. The treasurer was well aware that financing did not come free and that the costs of issuance of preferred stock would cost 8%, bonds would cost 4% and equity 12%. He thought it important to determine how such costs would inflate the costs of any proposed projects the company might pursue in the futures. Thus he wanted to determine what the total cost of a $1,000,000 investment would be after considering any financing costs.
EXHIBIT III Article taken form the February 7, 2012 issue of the Wall Street Journal. Meat Processing Industry To Be Hurt by Increasing Prices? Decimated Life stock Herds Also Contribute to Price Increases. Kansas (AP) The ConAgra Corporation, in a recent annual meeting announcement, forecast a trailing off of sales in its meat processing division. That division, which had been growing at a rate equivalent to three times the CPI growth rate throughout the 2000's and early 2010's, may be hit by decreases in household expenditures as the effects of the most recent financial crisis are still lingering for the decimated middle class. Retail outlets such as restaurants and grocery stores are reporting that sales of beef and pork products are declining in response to price pressures. Disease that swept through beef and pork herds, are also having a telling effect. Other sources close to the industry confirm the ConAgra prognosis. They estimate the best forecasts that their economists can come up with indicate a decline of about five percent in the growth rate which had been experienced in the last 12 to 15 years. ConAgra is curtailing several plant expansions in its meat processing division which were on the drawing board for the mid 2010's." We are moderately pessimistic," a company spokesman indicated, "and are going to adopt a wait and see attitude for the next year or so."
1. What is the yield to maturity on the debt? (Decimal answer, to the 4th decimal place e.g., .1234)
2. What is the cost of preferred stock? (Decimal answer to the fourth decimal place)
3. With the data given, you can calculate up to four geometric growth rates to apply to the dividend model, which is more appropriate?
a. The dividend rate because the model is based on dividends.
b. The earnings rate because the dividend was stabilized and does not reflect the growth pattern of the company.
c. The growth in share price
d. The growth in sales because it is almost like earnings.
e. You do not need the growth rate.
4. What is the cost of equity using the dividend growth model? (Decimal answer to the fourth decimal place)
5 Year. What is the cost of equity using the CAPM? (Decimal answer to the fourth decimal place)
6. What is the market value of the firm? (round to whole number e.g., 24000 not 24000.56)
7. Equity is what portion of the capital structure of the firm? (Decimal answer to the fourth decimal place)
8. The weighted cost of debt is: (Decimal answer to the fourth decimal place)
9. What is the weighted cost of equity? (Decimal answer to the fourth decimal place)
10. What is the weighted average cost of capital? (Decimal answer to the fourth decimal place)
11. If a firm plans to issue debt to finance their next project, then they should apply which flotation costs to the cost of the project?
A. The weighted flotation cost of debt
B. The flotaton cost of debt (4%)
C. The simple average of the flotation costs.
D. The weighted average flotation costs.
E. None of the above.
12. Given the $1,000,000 cost of the investment, what is the total cost of the investment including flotation costs? (Round to whole numbers)