1.1: Stock Pricing Flashcards
What are the two potential sources of cash flows from owning a stock?
- Cash that the firm pays out to shareholders through dividends.
- Cash generated by selling the shares at some future date
Which discount rate do we use to discount cash flows from a stock and why?
The equity cost of capital (rE). The cash flows are risky, so this is equal to the expected return of other investments available in the market with equivalent risk.
What is the NPV of investment opportunities in a competitive market?
0, every buyer must have a seller.
What two parts are the total return of a stock (rE) divided into?
- Dividend Yield: Div1/P0
- Capital gain rate: (P1-P0)/P0
What is the dividend yield?
The expected percentage return from dividends
If there is no bubble in the market, what will the current stock price equal?
The present value of the expected future cash flows (dividends) it will pay
What is a common approximation for estimating dividends?
Letting it grow at a constant rate, g
What are the conditions of the Constant Dividend Growth Model/Gordon Growth Model?
- Dividends grow at the same constant rate of g
- The growth lasts forever
- g < rE
When trying to maximise share price, what tradeoff do firms face?
They would like to increase both current dividend level and the expected growth rate. But, increased growth may require investment, and money spent on investment cannot be used to pay dividends.
What is the dividend payout rate?
The fraction of earnings that a firm pays in dividends each year.
In what three ways can a firm increase its dividend?
- Increase earnings
- Increase dividend payout rate
- Decrease the number of shares outstanding
What is the retention rate?
The fraction of current earnings that the firm retains.
What is the formula for the earnings growth rate, g, when the number of shares outstanding are fixed, the firm only grows through investment, and the dividend payout rate is constant?
g = Retention rate * Return on new investment
What determines whether the firm should increase dividend or investment to increase the share price?
The NPV of the investment. Cutting the dividend to raise stock price will only work if the new investments have a positive NPV.
- Positive if: return > equity cost of capital
- Negative if: Return < equity cost of capital
What does high growth rates imply on the stock price?
Higher stock price
What does high expected returns imply on the stock price?
Lower stock prices (holding dividends fixed)
What are some limitations of the dividend-discount model?
It values a stock based on a forecast of the future dividends –> high uncertainty (need to forecast earnings, dividend payout rate and future share count).
What are share repurchases?
The firm uses excess cash to buy back its own stock.
What are the two consequences of share repurchases on the dividend-discount model?
- More cash used to repurchase shares means less available to pay dividends.
- Share count decreases, which increases EPS and dividends per share.
What is an alternative method to the dividend-discount model, which is more reliable when a firm repurchases shares?
The total payout model. Values all of the firm’s equity rather than a single share. Total payouts is the amount spent on both dividends and share repurchases
What growth rate do we use when forecasting the growth of a firm’s total payouts?
The growth rate of total earnings (rather than earnings per share).
What is the starting point in the Discounted Free Cash Flow Model?
Determine the total value of the firm to all investors, both equity and debt holders = Enterprise value