Question: Natsam Corporation has $250 million of excess cash. The firm has no debt and 500 million shares outstanding with a current market price of $15 per share. Natsam's board has decided to pay out this cash as a one-time dividend.
a. What is the ex-dividend price of a share in a perfect capital market?
b. If the board instead decided to use the cash to do a one-time share repurchase, in a perfect capital market what is the price of the shares once the repurchase is complete?
c. In a perfect capital market, which policy (in part a or b) makes investors in the firm better off?