Which of the Following Statements Is CORRECT? Assume That the Firm

question 40

Multiple Choice

Which of the following statements is CORRECT? Assume that the firm is a publicly-owned corporation and is seeking to maximize shareholder wealth.

• A) If a firm's managers want to maximize the value of their firm's stock, they should, in theory, concentrate on project risk as measured by the standard deviation of the project's expected future cash flows.
• B) If a firm evaluates all projects using the same cost of capital, and the CAPM is used to help determine that cost, then its risk as measured by beta will probably decline over time.
• C) Projects with above-average risk typically have higher than average expected returns.Therefore, to maximize a firm's intrinsic value, its managers should favor high-beta projects over those with lower betas.
• D) Project A has a standard deviation of expected returns of 20%, while Project B's standard deviation is only 10%.A's returns are negatively correlated with both the firm's other assets and the returns on most stocks in the economy, while B's returns are positively correlated.Therefore, Project A is less risky to a firm and should be evaluated with a lower cost of capital.
• E) If a firm has a beta that is less than 1.0, say 0.9, this would suggest that the expected returns on its assets are negatively correlated with the returns on most other firms' assets.

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Definitions:

Cumulative Preferred Stock

Preferred stock that accumulates dividends in case they are not paid in the period they were declared, ensuring those dividends are paid out before any dividends to common shareholders.

Noncontrolling Interest

Equity in a subsidiary not attributable directly or indirectly to the parent company, reflecting the portion of subsidiary earnings not owned by the parent.

Noncontrolling Interest Valuation

The process of determining the value of minority shareholders' equity in a subsidiary that is not wholly owned by the parent company.

Treasury Stock

Shares that were issued and subsequently reacquired by the company, held in the company's treasury, and are not considered when calculating earnings per share or dividends.