Case Analysis Cost of Capital at Ameritrade

The too high estimated cost of capital means that Midland may miss out on investment opportunities and will under value the investment at hand. Furthermore, it is possible for shareholders to see a lower return on their investment. On the other hand, a too low estimated cost of capital

The cost of equity is the theoretical return that equity investors expect or receive from the company for investing their funds in the company. The risk free rate that is the Government Treasury bill rate is 3.1%, the market risk premium is 7% and the beta has been calculated as

Assumptions need to be made for the Cost of Equity. We used the corporate rate of 11.766%

Barb Williams and Rick Thomas, while attending an executive education course at a well-known business school, came across a case which involved calculating the cost of capital for Telus Corporation (Telus). Basic data such as the Balance Sheet, Income Statement, Data on Telus’ Common Stock, Market Index, and the Average Annual Returns in North American Capital Markets were provided. In order to calculate Telus’ cost of capital we need to calculate the company’s Cost of Equity, Cost of Debt, and Tax Rate along with their weighted cost and then apply these to the Weighted

We use Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) approach to calculate the cost of equity. The formula of CAPM is re = rf + β × (E[RMkt] – rf).

Week 1 – Introduction – Financial Accounting (Review) Week 2 – Financial Markets and Net Present Value Week 3 – Present Value Concepts Week 4 – Bond Valuation and Term Structure Theory Week 5 – Valuation of Stocks Week 6 – Risk and Return – Problem Set #1 Due Week 7* – Midterm (Tuesday*) Week 8 - Portfolio Theory Week 9 – Capital Asset Pricing Model Week 10 – Arbitrage Pricing Theory Week 11 – Operation and Efficiency of Capital Markets Week 12 – Course Review – Problem Set #2 Due

As a deep-discount brokerage, Ameritrade planned to improve its competitive position by price cutting, technology enhancements, and increased advertising in mid-1997. Before initiating the plan, Ameritrade needed know whether the investment returned more than it cost. We were hired to estimate the cost of capital correctly. The key question is to find suitable comparable firms to estimate Ameritrade’s asset beta, since it was a recently-listed firm. We thought discount brokerage companies were best due to same revenue resources. Proper risk-free rate and market risk premium should also be chosen carefully, and we used 30-year bonds YTM and the annual return difference

Given these approximations, the CAPM model would total the risk-free rate and the market risk premium times beta to arrive at a cost of equity of 9.68%, which reflects the investors’ expected return from investing in shares of the company.

Two managers attending an executive education course attempt to develop a cost of capital estimate for a leading telecommunications company, Telus The two managers are somewhat confused about the costs of various sources of capital, the calculation of the overall cost of capital and the appropriate use of the hurdle rate

The mixture of debt-equity mix is important so as to maximize the stock price of the Costco. However, it will be significant to consider the Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC) as well so that it can evaluate the company targeted capital structure. Cost of capital (OC) may be used by the companies as for long term decision making, so industries that faced to take the important of Cost of capital seriously may not make the right choice by choosing the right project(Gitman’s, ).

* We assume the cost of capital to be a stated annual rate to facilitate calculations;

1-a How can the CAPM be used to estimate the cost of capital for a real business investment decision?

Please refer to Appendix 2 for other considerations for cost of equity calculations. Most firms use the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) to determine the cost of equity. The components that make up the CAPM include: the risk free rate, the beta of the security, and the expected market return of the stock. These values are all based on forward-looking data. The model dictates that shareholders require a return equal to the return from a risk-free investment plus an equity risk premium for bearing extra risk. Refer to Appendix 1 for a full breakdown of the CAPM formula.

‘The Capital asset pricing model (CAPM) is a very useful model and it is used widely in the industry even though it is based on very strong assumptions. Discuss in the light of recent developments in the area.’

c. Is your estimate of Lex’s cost of equity appropriate as a discount rate for Lex’s total operating cash flows? Why or why not?