Hartford Mining has $100$ million shares that are currently trading for $$6$ per share and $$180$ million worth of

debt. The debt is risk free and has an interest rate of $4\%,$ and the expected return of Hartford stock is $13\%.$

Suppose a mining strike causes the price of Hartford stock to fall $26\%$ to $$4\mathrm{.}44$ per share. The value of

the risk$-$free debt is unchanged. Assuming there are no taxes and the risk $($unlevered beta$)$ of Hartford's asset

is unchanged, what happens to Hartford's equity cost of capital?