Ch 12 Cost of Capital
Why Cost of Capital Is Important
• Weknowthatthereturnearnedonassets depends on the risk of those assets
• Thereturntoaninvestoristhesameas the cost to the company
• Ourcostofcapitalprovidesuswithan indication of how the market views the risk of our assets
• Knowingourcostofcapitalcanalsohelp us determine our required return for capital budgeting projects
Required Return
• Therequiredreturnisthesameasthe appropriate discount rate and is based on the risk of the cash flows
• Weneedtoknowtherequiredreturnfor an investment before we can compute the NPV and make a decision about whether or not to take the investment
• Weneedtoearnatleasttherequired return to compensate our investors for the financing they have provided
Cost of Equity
• Thecostofequityisthereturnrequiredby equity investors given the risk of the cash flows from the firm
– Business risk – Financial risk
• Therearetwomajormethodsfor determining the cost of equity
– Dividend growth model – SML, or CAPM
The Dividend Growth Model
Approach
• Start with the dividend growth model formula and rearrange to solve for RE