Question
You are trying to estimate the cost of equity for a privately owned railroad company called the Illinois-Pacific Railroad. You know that the company's cost
You are trying to estimate the cost of equity for a privately owned railroad company called the Illinois-Pacific Railroad. You know that the company's cost of debt is 4% and its debt-to-enterprise value ratio is 30%. You have collected the following information on publicly traded railroads that are comparable. All of these railroads have no excess cash. You also know that the risk-free rate is 2% and the market risk premium in 5%. Which of the following statements is true? Select one.
Company | Beta | Market Capitalization (in $ billions) | Market Value of Debt (in $ billions) | Cost of Debt |
UNP | 1.05 | 133.20 | 24.70 | 3.0% |
CSX | 1.21 | 59.40 | 16.30 | 3.2% |
NSC | 1.38 | 54.70 | 12.20 | 3.1% |
KSU | 0.96 | 18.30 | 3.20 | 2.9% |
I. | You can not calculate the cost of equity for the privately held railroad as the average cost of equity across the comparable firms because the privately held railroad has a lower debt-to-enterprise value ratio than the comparable firms. | |
II. | You can not calculate the cost of equity for the privately held railroad as the average cost of equity across the comparable firms because the privately held railroad has a higher debt-to-enterprise value ratio than the comparable firms. | |
III. | You can always calculate the cost of equity for the privately held railroad as the average cost of equity across the comparable firms regardless of whether debt-to-enterprise value ratio of the private railroad is different from the one for the comparable firms. | |
IV. | You can calculate the cost of equity for the privately held railroad as the average cost of equity across the comparable firms because the privately held railroad has a similar debt-to-enterprise value ratio than the comparable firms. |
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