Alternative dividend policies Over the last $10$ years, a firm has had the earnings per share shown in the following table: $.$

a$.$ If the firm's dividend policy were based on a constant payout ratio of $40\%$ for all years with positive earnings and $0\%$ otherwise, what would be the

annual dividend for $2019?$

b$.$ If the firm had a dividend payout of $$1\mathrm{.}00$ per share, increasing by $$0\mathrm{.}10$ per share whenever the dividend payout fell below $50\%$ for two

consecutive years, what annual dividend would the firm pay in $2019?$

c$.$ If the firm's policy were to pay $$0\mathrm{.}50$ per share each period except when earnings per share exceed $$3\mathrm{.}00,$ when an extra dividend equal to $80\%$ of

earnings beyond $$3\mathrm{.}00$ would be paid, what annual dividend would the firm pay in $2019?$

d$.$ Discuss the pros and cons of each dividend policy described in parts a through c$.$

Data table

$($Click on the icon here $$ in order to copy the contents of the data table below

into a spreadsheet.$)$

ngs and $0\%$ otherwise, the annual dividend