Fournier Industries, a publicly traded waste disposal company, is a highly leveraged firm with 70% debt, 0%

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Fournier Industries, a publicly traded waste disposal company, is a highly leveraged firm with 70% debt, 0% preferred stock, and 30% common equity financing. Currently the risk-free rate is about 4.5% and the return on the S&P 500 (the market proxy) is 12.7%. The firm’s beta is currently estimated to be 1.65.
a. What is Fournier’s current cost of equity?
b.
If the firm shifts its capital structure to a highly levered position by selling preferred stock and using the proceeds to retire debt, it expects its beta to drop to 1.20. What is its cost of equity in this case?
c. If the firm shifts its capital structure to a less highly leveraged position by selling additional shares of common stock and using the proceeds to retire debt, it expects its beta to drop to 0.95. What is its cost of equity in this case?
d. Discuss the potential impact of the two strategies discussed in parts (b) and (c) above on Fournier’s weighted-average cost of capital (WACC).
Common Stock
Common stock is an equity component that represents the worth of stock owned by the shareholders of the company. The common stock represents the par value of the shares outstanding at a balance sheet date. Public companies can trade their stocks on...
Capital Structure
Capital structure refers to a company’s outstanding debt and equity. The capital structure is the particular combination of debt and equity used by a finance its overall operations and growth. Capital structure maximizes the market value of a...
Cost Of Capital
Cost of capital refers to the opportunity cost of making a specific investment . Cost of capital (COC) is the rate of return that a firm must earn on its project investments to maintain its market value and attract funds. COC is the required rate of...
Cost Of Equity
The cost of equity is the return a company requires to decide if an investment meets capital return requirements. Firms often use it as a capital budgeting threshold for the required rate of return. A firm's cost of equity represents the...
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