This company has earnings before interest and taxes of 5,000,000. This company finances its assets with 20,000,000 debt (the cost of this debt is 5 percent) and 70,000 shares of equity with a price of $50.00 per share. To reduce this company's financial risk, the CFO is considering reducing its debt by 5,000,000 by selling 100,000 shares of stock. The firm is in the forty percent tax bracket. The change in capital structure will have no effect on the operations of the firm. Thus, earnings before interest and taxes will remain $5,000,000. What is the change in the firm's earnings per share (EPS) from this change in the capital structure?

decrease EPS by 9.29

Increase EPS by 2.14

decrease EPS by 18.70

Decrease EPS by 19.29