Blue Stripes Co. is comparing two different capital structures. Plan I would result in 8,500 shares of stock and $313,500 in debt. Plan II would result in 12,000 shares of stock and $198,000 in debt. The interest rate on the debt is 10 percent.
a. Ignoring taxes, compare both of these plans to an all-equity plan assuming that EBIT will be $53,000. The all-equity plan would result in 18,000 shares of stock outstanding. Which of the three plans has the highest EPS? The lowest?
b. In part (a), what are the break-even levels of EBIT for each plan as compared to that for an all-equity plan? Is one higher than the other? Why?
c. Ignoring taxes, when will EPS be identical for Plans I and II?
d. Repeat parts (a), (b), and (c) assuming that the corporate tax rate is 35 percent. Are the break-even levels of EBIT different from before? Why or why not?