You are valuing Estelle Company, a private firm that manufactures shop tools, and you have identified several comparable firms that are publicly owned from which to calculate an estimated price-to-earnings multiple to use in your valuation. One of the comparable firms, Comp A, has a market value per share of $53.40, earnings per share for last year of $4.20 per share, a dividend for last year that was $1.10 per share, forecast earnings per share for the next year of $7.05, and a dividend that is expected be unchanged. The forward price-to-earnings multiple for Comp A is:

a. 17.2

b. 12.7

c. 9.0

d. 7.6

e. None of the above