Early in 2013, Inez Marcus, the chief financial officer for Suarez Manufacturing, was given the task of assessing the impact of a proposed risky investment on the firm's stock value. To perform the necessary analysis, Inez gathered the following information on the firm's stock.

During the immediate past 5 years (2008-2012), the annual dividends paid on the firm's common stock were as follows:

Year Dividend per share 2012 $1.90 2011 1.70 2010 1.55 2009 1.40 2008 1.30

a. Find the current value per share of Suarez Manufacturing's common stock.

The growth rate of dividends is: ___________(Round to two decimal places.)

The current value per share will be: ________(Round to the nearest cent.)

b. Find the value of Suarez's common stock in the event that it undertakes the proposed risky investment and assuming that the dividend growth rate stays at forever. Compare this value to that found in part A.

The value of common stock if the risky investment is made will be

$ ______(Round to the nearest cent.)