Consider the following two statements: “Dividend policy is irrelevant,” and “Stock price is the present value of expected future dividends.”

Consider the following two statements: “Dividend policy is irrelevant,” and “Stock price is the present value of expected future dividends.” (See Chapter 4.) They sound contradictory. This question is designed to show that they are fully consistent.

	Merck	International Paper
Year	EPS	Dividend	EPS	Dividend
1983	0.17	0.08	1.16	0.6
1984	0.19	0.09	0.47	0.6
1985	0.21	0.09	0.54	0.6
1986	0.27	0.11	1.45	0.6
1987	0.37	0.14	1.84	0.61
1988	0.51	0.22	3.28	0.64
1989	0.63	0.28	3.86	0.77
1990	0.76	0.32	2.6	0.84
1991	0.92	0.39	1.8	0.84
1992	1.56	0.46	0.58	0.84
1993	1.44	0.52	1.17	0.84
1994	1.19	0.57	1.73	0.84
1995	1.32	0.62	4.5	0.92
1996	1.56	0.71	1.04	1.00
1997	1.87	0.85	.20	1.00
1998	2.15	0.95	0.6	1.00
1999	2.45	1.1	0.48	1.00
2000	2.9	1.21	0.32	1.00

The current price of the shares of Charles River Mining Corporation is $50. Next

year’s earnings and dividends per share are $4 and $2, respectively. Investors expect perpetual growth at 8 percent per year. The expected rate of return demanded by investors is r = 12 percent. We can use the perpetual-growth model to calculate stock price.

p₀ = DIV/r-g = 2/.12-.08 =50

Suppose that Charles River Mining announces that it will switch to a 100 percent payout policy, issuing shares as necessary to finance growth. Use the perpetual-growth model to show that current stock price is unchanged.