Question

You are given the following information for Watson Power Co. Assume the company’s tax rate is 24 percent. Debt: 14,000 6.3 percent coupon bonds outstanding, $1,000 par value, 29 years to maturity, selling for 107 percent of par; the bonds make semiannual payments. Common stock: 470,000 shares outstanding, selling for $65 per share; the beta is 1.16. Preferred stock: 20,500 shares of 4.1 percent preferred stock outstanding, currently selling for $86 per share. The par value is $100 per share. Market: 7 percent market risk premium and 5.2 percent risk-free rate. What is the company's WACC? (Do not round intermediate calculations and enter your answer as a percent rounded to 2 decimal places, e.g., 32.16.)

Answer 1

10.18%

Step-by-step explanation:

The computation of the WACC is shown below:

But before that following calculation is to be done

The value of debt is

= 14000 × $1,000 × 107%

= $14,980,000

The value of equity is

= 470,000 × $65

= $30,550,000

The value of preferred stock is

= 20,500 × $86

= $1,763,000

Now

value of total capital is

= $14,980,000 + $30,550,000 + $1,763,000

= $47,293,000

Now we find the cost of debt using excel function i.e.

= RATE(nper,pmt,pv,fv)) × 2

= RATE(29 × 2,1000 × 6.3% ÷ 2,-1000 × 107%,1000)) ×2

= 5.80%

Now

Cost of common stock is

= 5.2% + 1.16 × 7%

= 13.32%

cost of preferred stock is

= (100 × 4.1%) ÷ 86

= 4.77%

Now finally

WACC = weight of debt × cost of debt ×(1 - tax rate) + weight of equity × cost of equity + weight of preferred stock ×cost of preferred stock

= ($14,980,000 ÷ $47,293,000) × 5.80% × (1 - 24%)+($30,550,000 ÷ $47,293,000) × 13.32% + ($1,763,000 ÷ $47,293,000) ×4.77%

= 10.18%