Answer:
11.18%
Explanation:
The firm average cost of equity is shown below:
Under Dividend growth, the common stock is
= dividend growth rate + dividend yield
= 3.75% + 4.53%
= 8.28%
Under CAPM, the common stock is
= Risk-free rate of return + Beta × (Market rate of return - risk-free rate of return)
=3.1% + 1.15 × (12.65% - 3.1%)
= 14.08%
Now the average cost of equity of the firm is
= (8.28% + 14.08%) ÷ 2
= 11.18%