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Home Depot & Capital Structure

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Home Depot & Capital Structure Finding the perfect capital structure in terms of risk and reward can ensure a company meets shareholder expectations and protects a firm in times of recession. Capital structure refers to how a business puts its money to “work”. The two forms of capital structure are equity capital and debt capital. Both have their benefits and limitations. Striking that perfect balance between the two can mean the difference between thriving versus trying to survive. Equity capital represents money put up and owned by shareholders. This money can be used to fund projects and other opportunities under the auspice of creating greater value. This type of capital is typically the most expensive. In order to attract …show more content…

This assessment will evaluate different views of capital structure using Home Depot financial information from March 10, 2014. The evaluation will compare Home Depot to its largest competitor (Lowes) discussing similarities and differences. It will then provide examples supporting Modigliniani and Miller’s (MM) findings around the impact financing decisions have on a firms value.
Assessment
Home Depot (HD) is a home improvement retailer specializing in a high volume and low cost strategy. HD offers a variety of products spanning from lawn and garden to home improvement. Table 1 compares Home Depot to Lowes. HD overall market cap is more than 2 times Lowes. HD tends to be more affected by movement in the market than Lowes as demonstrated by their Beta values.
Table 1 ("Yahoo finance," 2014) & ("Morningstar," 2014) Price Share Out (B) B Bond Mkt Cap
HD 82.17 1.38 0.89 5.4% 113.4
Lowes 48.76 1.03 1.13 5.0% 50.22B Table 2 provides comparisons of HD and Lowes total debt (short term & long term) plus available cash. Lowes maintains less short term debt and available cash versus HD. Lowes cash reserves is about 10 times its short term debts whereas HD maintains approximately 2 times.
Table 2 ("Yahoo finance," 2014)
Total Debt (2013 Balance Sheet) HD Lowes
Short/Current Long Term Debt 1,321,000 47,000
Long Term Debt 9,475,000 9,030,000
Cash And Cash Equivalents 2,494,000 541,000
Total Debt 8,302,000 8,536,000
Table 3 calculates the required returns associate

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