have difficulty in raising equity through this method. In addition, current shareholders may be reluctant to see their holdings diluted through the issuance of additional shares, which could further hamper stockholder relations. However, one advantage of using debt financing over equity financing is that interest payments on debt are deductible while dividend payments to stockholders are not. This is strong incentive to a company seeking to bolster its dominant market position.
The company has paid dividends since 1986 (Chappell 1672); however, the company cut its dividend from 30 cents per share to 22.5 cents per share annually from 1995 to 1996. Dividend cuts are
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