Question

The cost of preferred stock

Preferred stock is a hybrid security, because it has some characteristics typical of debt and others typical of equity. The following table lists various characteristics of preferred stock. Determine which of these characteristics is consistent with debt and which is consistent with equity.
Characteristics Debt Equity
Dividends are fixed
Usually has no specified maturity date
Consider the case of Tamin Enterprises:
At the present time, Tamin Enterprises does not have any preferred stock outstanding but is looking to include preferred stock in its capital structure in the future. Tamin has found some institutional investors that are willing to purchase its preferred stock issue provided that it pays a perpetual dividend of $11 per share. If the investors pay $97.95 per share for their investment, then Tamin's cost of preferred stock (rounded to four decimal places) will be:_____.

Answer 1

Dividends are fixed ⇒ Debt

Preferred dividends are fixed much like the interest payments made on debt which makes this a characteristic of debt.

Usually have no specified maturity date ⇒ Equity

Equity does not have an expiration or maturity date and preferred shares share this same characteristic.

Cost of preferred stock.

The value of a Preferred stock is calculated by the formula:

Price = Dividend / Cost of preferred stock

97.95 = 11 / Cp

97.95 * Cp = 11

Cp = 11/ 97.95

= 11.23%