Lingenburger Cheese Corporation has 6.4 million shares of common stock outstanding, 200,000 shares of 3.8 percent preferred stock outstanding, par value of $100, and 120,000 bonds with a semiannual coupon of 4.8 percent outstanding, par value $1,000 each. The common stock currently sells for $54 per share and has a beta of 1.08, the preferred stock currently sells for $103 per share, and the bonds have 15 years to maturity and sell for 107 percent of par. The market risk premium is 7.5 percent, T-bills are yielding 2.4 percent, and the company’s tax rate is 22 percent.

a. What is the firm’s market value capital structure?

b. If the company is evaluating a new investment project that has the same risk as the firm’s typical project, what rate should the firm use to discount the project’s cash flows?