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Western Electric Utility Company faces increasing needs for capital. Fortunately, it has an A (low) credit rating. The corporate tax rate is 40 percent. Western's

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Western Electric Utility Company faces increasing needs for capital. Fortunately, it has an A (low) credit rating. The corporate tax rate is 40 percent. Western's treasurer is trying to determine the corporation's current weighted average cost of capital to assess the profitability of capital budgeting projects. Historically, the corporation's earnings and dividends per share have increased at about a 6.4 percent annual rate. Western Electric's common stock is selling at $73 per share, and the company will pay a $4.60 per share dividend (01). The company's $114 preferred stock has been yielding 10 percent in the current market. Flotation costs for the company have been estimated by its investment dealer to be $8.00 for preferred stock. The company's optimum capital structure is 60 percent debt, 25 percent preferred stock, and 15 percent common equity in the form of retained earnings. Refer to the table below on bond issues for comparative yields on bonds of equal risks to Western Electric, maturing in 2038. Data on Bond Issues Yield to Maturity Rating Price Issue Utilities: Valnet 6.17, 2037 Transcanada 6.65 2038 West Coast Energy 6.03 2039 Industrials: Manulife Financial 5.90 2036 Dillard's Departmental Store 5.39 2037 BBB (high) A (low) A (high) 99.62 103.82 100.20 6.73 4.45 6.90 BBB A(low) 99.90 96.07 6.62 6.95 a. Compute the cost of debt, kd. (Input your answer as a percent rounded to 2 decimal places.) Cost of debt % b. Compute the cost of preferred stock, Kp. (Input your answer as a percent rounded to 2 decimal places.) Cost of preferred stock 1% c. Compute the cost of common equity in the form of retained earnings, Ke- (Input your answer as a percent rounded to 2 decimal places.) Cost of common equity % d. Compute the weighted average cost of capital. (Input your answer as a percent rounded to 2 decimal places.) Weighted Cost % Debt (K) Preferred stock (Kp) Common equity (Ke) Weighted average cost of capital (K) %

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