Posted: March 26th, 2017

Lever Brothers has a debt ratio (debt to assets) of 20%. Management is wondering if its current capital structure is too conservative

Lever Brothers has a debt ratio (debt to assets) of 20%. Management is wondering if its current capital structure is too conservative. Lever Brothers s present EBIT is $3 million, and profits available to common shareholders are $1,680,000, with 457,143 shares of common stock outstanding. If the firm were to instead have a debt ratio of 40%, additional interest expense would cause profits available to stockholders to decline to $1,560,000, but only 342,857 common shares would be outstanding. What is the difference in EPS at a debt ratio of 40% versus 20%? A. $0.88 B. $2.12 C. $1.16 D. $1.95