Question 1: You are a consultant to Pillbriar Company. Pillbriar's target capital structure is 36% debt, 14% preferred, and 50% common equity. The interest rate on new debt is 7.8%, the yield on the preferred is 7.00%, the cost of retained earnings is 11.75%, and the tax rate is 38%. The firm will not be issuing any new stock. What is Pillbriar's WACC?
Question 2: What are three methods for estimating the cost of common stock from retained earnings? Which of these methods provides the most accurate and reliable estimate?