Toasty Corporation is a publicly owned company. The following information is taken from a recent balance sheet. Dollar amounts (except for per-share amounts) are stated in thousands.

Stockholders’ equity:

Convertible $10 preferred stock, no par value, 1,000,000 shares authorized, 250,000 shares issued and outstanding, $200 per share liquidation preference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 50,000

Common stock, $3 par value, 40,000,000 shares authorized . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,600

Additional paid-in capital . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76,800

Retained earnings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . 50,600

Total stockholders’ equity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $187,000

Instructions

From this information, compute answers to the following questions:

a. How many shares of common stock have been issued?

b. What is the total amount of the annual dividends paid to preferred stockholders?

c. What is the total amount of paid-in capital?

d. What is the book value per share of common stock?

e. Briefly explain the advantages and disadvantages to Toasty of being publicly owned rather than operating as a closely held corporation.

f. What is meant by the term convertible used in the caption of the preferred stock? Is there any more information that investors need to know to evaluate this conversion feature?

g. Assume that the preferred stock currently is selling at $190 per share. Does this provide a higher or lower dividend yield than a 6 percent, $50 par value preferred with a market price of $52 per share? Show computations. Explain why one preferred stock might yield less than another.