Fundamental Equity Valuation
Principles of Dividend Valuation
Key financial theory governing the Dividend Discount Model:
- Cash Flow Primacy: An equity investor's true cash flows are cash dividends received during holding and the ultimate liquidation price.
- The Cost of Equity Hurdle: The discount rate $r$ must reflect risk-free treasury yields plus systemic beta risk: $r = R_f + eta cdot ext{ERP}$.
- H-Model Transition: In competitive markets, high returns on capital attract competition, causing supernormal growth rates to decay toward economic GDP growth.
- Margin of Safety: Value investors demand a 15% to 25% discount between market price and intrinsic value to protect against model parameter error.
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