The firm expects that without the proposed investment, the dividend in 2013 will be $2.09 per share and the historical annual rate of growth (rounded to the nearest whole percent) will continue in the future. Currently, the required return on the common stock is 14%. Inez’s research indicates that if the proposed investment is undertaken, the 2013 dividend will rise to $2.15 per share and the annual rate of dividend growth will increase to 13%. She feels that in the best case, the dividend would continue to grow at this rate each year into the future and that in the worst case, the 13% annual rate of growth in dividends would continue only through 2015, and then, at the beginning of 2016, would return to the rate that was experienced between 2008 and 2012. As a result of the increased risk associated with the proposed risky investment, the required return on the common stock is expected to increase by 2% to an annual rate of 16%, regardless of which dividend growth outcome occurs.
Armed with the preceding information, Inez must now assess the impact of the proposed risky investment on the market value of Suarez’s stock. To simplify her calculations, she plans to round the historical growth rate in common stock dividends to the nearest whole percent.