A firm's price-to-earnings ratio (P/E) is 12.5. The firm has decided to repurchase shares using external funds that have an after-tax cost of 9%. After the repurchase, the earnings per share (EPS) will most likely:
Convert the P/E to the earnings yield, which is the earnings-to-price ratio (E/P): 1/12.5 = 8%. Because the after-tax cost of the external funds is higher than the earnings yield (i.e.,9% > 8%), the EPS will decrease after the repurchase.