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

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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 2021?

b.If the firm had a dividend payout of $1.00 per share, increasing by $0.10 per share whenever the dividend payout fell below 50% for two consecutive years, what annual dividend would the firm pay in 2021?

c.If the firm's policy were to pay $0.50 per share each period except when earnings per share exceed $3.00, when an extra dividend equal to 80% of earnings beyond $3.00 would be paid, what annual dividend would the firm pay in 2021?

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

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, the annual dividend for 2021 is $1.74 (Round to the nearest cent.)

b.If the firm had a dividend payout of $1.00 per share, increasing by $0.10 per share whenever the dividend payout fell below 50% for two consecutive years, the annual dividend the firm would pay in 2021 is (Round to the nearest cent.)

in order to copy the contents of the data table below into a spreadsheet.)

Year		Earnings per share	Year		Earnings per share
2022		$4.61	2017		$2.97
2021		$4.36	2016		$1.08
2020		$4.17	2015		$1.33
2019		$3.62	2014		$1.93
2018		$3.81	2013		$0.92