Dividends and Stocks
Demonstrate your understanding of financial concepts by completing the following problems. Where appropriate, show or explain your work. You may use Excel to work on the problems.
Problem 1. Dividends and taxes: Midland Incorporated has declared a $6.50 per share dividend and the stock is about to go ex-dividend. Calculate the ex-dividend price based on the following data:
- Capital gains are not taxed.
- There is a 12 percent tax rate on dividends.
- Taxes must be withheld at the time the dividend is paid, according to new IRS regulations.
- Midland sells for $76 per share.
Problem 2. Stock splits and stock dividends: Billings Corporation (BC) currently has 365,000 shares of stock outstanding that sell for $72 per share. Calculate the share price for each of the following scenarios:
- After BC has a five-for-three stock split.
- After BC has a 12 percent stock dividend.
- After BC has a 45 percent stock dividend.
- After BC has a five-for-seven reverse stock split.
Problem 3. Dividend smoothing: The Deck Company just paid a dividend of $1.55 per share of stock. Its target payout ratio is 45 percent. In one year, the company expects to have earnings per share of $7.10. If the adjustment rate is .4, as defined in the Lintner model, what will the dividend be one year from now?
Problem 4. Stock dividends: The market value balance sheet for Outland Manufacturing is shown in the table below. Outland has declared a 20 percent stock dividend. The stock goes ex-dividend tomorrow. (Chronology for a stock dividend is similar to that for a cash dividend.) There are 45,000 shares of stock outstanding. Calculate the ex-dividend price.
| Cash: $165,000 | Debt: $177,000 |
| Fixed Assets: $658,000 | Equity: $646,000 |
| Total: $823,000 | Total: $823,000 |
