Northstar Corporation is considering paying $10,000 to the shareholders. There are 1,000 shares outstanding and the current share price is $50, the current earnings are $20 per share.

a. What is the ex-dividend price of Northstar stock? (3%)

b. How can Bob, who owns 50 shares of Northstar, achieve a zero payout policy on his own? (4%)

c. How do the stock price and shares outstanding change if the company spend $10,000 to repurchase stocks rather than paying cash dividends? (4%)

d. How the EPS and PE ratio change after the dividend payment and share repurchase, respectively? (6%)

e. If the target payout ratio remains (the target payout ratio equals to the current payout ratio), the

adjustment rate is 0.4 defined in the Lintner model, and this company expects to have an earnings per share of 25 for next year, what is the dividend one year from now? (4%)

f. Briefly discuss four possible reasons why stock repurchase seems to be preferred to cash dividend payment in the real world. (4%)