What
is Cost of Equity? Description
Cost of Equity is a financial term that is used to indicate the minimum
annual Rate of Return a firm must offer to
its ordinary shareholders for waiting for their returns and for
bearing risk. The risk consists of both the market risk and the company-specific
risk. Therefore it will vary from company to company.
The cost of equity reflects the opportunity cost of investing for
the shareholders. The compensation that the shareholders receive typically
consists of:
- Dividend
- Capital gains (through increases in the share price)
Note that the returns are expected future returns,
not historical returns. Therefore they can be expressed as the
anticipated dividends on the shares in each year in perpetuity.
The cost of equity is then the current market price of the share plus the
discounted value of all future dividends in perpetuity.
The Cost of Equity is just one of the components of the (total)
Cost of Capital for any company.
Another main source of financing is Debt (using company bonds), for which
the Cost of Debt can be calculated. See also WACC.
Calculation of the Cost of Equity. Formula
The Cost of Equity can be calculated by dividing the Dividends per Share
for Next Year by the Current Market Value of the Stock, and then
adding the Growth Rate of the Dividends (see figure). Another way to
calculate it, is by taking a Risk-free Return (the return of a government
bond) and adding to that the company's Beta (as published frequently by certain
investment services companies) times the difference of an Average Stock Return
(for example the average return of all stocks in the Dow Jones) minus the
Risk-free Return (see figure).
Usage of Cost of Equity. Example
Suppose an investor requires a rate of return of 9% on an investment in
ABC Bank, because of the bank's risk profile. The stock is currently trading
for € 100 and is expected to pay a dividend of € 3. For each share, the investor
will want a € 9 return in total, which is composed of the € 3 of the dividend
plus a € 6 increase in share price. The Cost of Equity for ABC Bank are 9%.
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Cost of Equity Example
Salte corporation is issuing new common stock at a market price of $27. Dividends last year were $1.45 and are expected to grow at an annual rate of 6 percent forever. Flotation costs will be 6 percen...
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Introduction and Calculation of WACC and its Components Initial Understanding and Calculation of WACC and Cost of Capital, Trainings, Workshops This superb explanation establishes a solid initial understanding of:
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Corporate Valuation for Businesses Corporate Valuation, Book Value, Market Value, Intrinsic Value, Fundamental Value, M&A, VBM, Fundamental Investing Presentation that elaborates on corporate valuation, including the following sections:
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Cost of Equity Diagram Shareholder Compensation Download and edit this 12manage PowerPoint graphic for limited personal, educational and business use.
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