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 2014?

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 2014?

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 2014?

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

Data table (Click on the icon here in order to copy the contents of the data table below into a spreadsheet.) Year Earnings per share Year Earnings per share 2022 $3.73 2017 $3.89 2021 $4.71 2016 $1.85 2020 $3.55 2015 $1.77 2019 $3.72 2014 - $1.53 2018 $3.97 2013 $0.27