Cost of equity capital and the CAPM

Review the background material on the capital asset pricing model, the material on the dividend growth model, and arbitrage pricing theory and do some of your own research using internet. These models provide some insights and tools to estimate the rate of return that investors in ST. JUDE MEDICAL 'require' in the sense that if they don't see the possibility that they'll earn that rate of return they'll sell the shares and that of course will lower the market price per share.

These models use a set of assumptions that are not necessarily tenable.

You are asked by your board of directors to write a report explaining the challenge of estimating or coming with a good 'feel' for the "cost of equity capital" or the rate of return that you feel your company investors require as the minimum rate of return that they expect of require your company to earn on their investment in the shares of the company. There are several asset pricing models used to estimate the cost of equity capital that you have read about for this module in the background materials. After reading through the background materials, write a report to the board of directors of ST JUDE MEDICAL in a FIVE page paper addressing the following issue:

Which of the three models (dividend growth, CAPM, or APT) is the best one for estimating the required rate of return (or discount rate) of your company?

In your paper include discussion of the following issues:

1. Ease of use of these three models

2. Accuracy of each of these three models

3. How realistic the assumptions of each model are

For this discussion you need to take a clear stand and pick one of these three models to defend to the Board of Directors. You cannot tell the Board of Directors that "I like all three models", they want you to come to them with a decisive choice of just one model.