The WACC of New Jersey Resources Corp (NJR) is 7.3%.
| Range | Selected | |
| Cost of equity | 6.10% - 7.70% | 6.90% | 
| Tax rate | 18.20% - 20.70% | 19.45% | 
| Cost of debt | 4.00% - 15.60% | 9.80% | 
| WACC | 4.9% - 9.7% | 7.3% | 
| Category | Low | High | 
| Long-term bond rate | 3.9% | 4.4% | 
| Equity market risk premium | 4.6% | 5.6% | 
| Adjusted beta | 0.49 | 0.5 | 
| Additional risk adjustments | 0.0% | 0.5% | 
| Cost of equity | 6.10% | 7.70% | 
| Tax rate | 18.20% | 20.70% | 
| Debt/Equity ratio | 0.76 | 0.76 | 
| Cost of debt | 4.00% | 15.60% | 
| After-tax WACC | 4.9% | 9.7% | 
| Selected WACC | 7.3% | |
The Cost of Equity reflects the return a company needs to deliver to shareholders to justify the risk of investing in its shares. It’s computed using the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM), which blends the risk-free rate, the stock’s beta, and the market risk premium.
This method evaluates the stock’s risk compared to a safe investment and the market’s overall volatility.
Here’s how we figure out the cost of equity for NJR:
cost_of_equity (6.90%) = risk_free_rate (4.15%) + equity_risk_premium (5.10%) * adjusted_beta (0.49) + risk_adjustments (0.25%)
We include the risk adjustments, which range from 0% to 1%, to keep our WACC conservatives, especially for companies traded in developing markets.