Comparison of Financial Ratios

In this project, you are going to perform an annual review of the stocks held by SU’s Student Investment Fund. Please follow the steps listed below to complete the assignment. Please post an electronic copy of your analysis report on Canvas before noon on Nov.28 and bring a hard copy of your whole package to class.

1. Form a team with two other students in BA330 Introduction to Finance class and select a company from those highlighted in the “SIC Portfolio Nov2017.pdf” file posted on Canvas.
2. Go to http://finance.yahoo.com/.
3. Enter your company’s ticker symbol in the search box and click Search.
4. Locate your company’s most recent stock price at the top of the screen.
5. Under Financials, click on Income Statement and then Annual.
6. Print the annual income statements for the last three years.
7. Under Financials, click on Balance Sheet and then Annual.
8. Print the fiscal year end balance sheets for the last three years. You are going to Attach the printed Annual Income Statement and Annual Balance Sheet pages to the analysis report and submit the package to the instructor at the beginning of the class when it is due.

Based on the financial statements collected, you are going to conduct a simple ratio analysis by comparing this company’s key financial ratios with industry benchmarks. Industry benchmark financial ratios can be found at the FACTIVA database, which is accessible through SU’s Smith Library. We will focus on the most recent fiscal year available (i.e., year 2016 or 2017).

The analysis involves two steps.

1. Complete the worksheet attached to this document on the next page. To find industry benchmark ratios, please access the Factiva database via Smith Library website, hover your cursor over “Companies/Markets,” then click on “Industry.” Select the industry that applies. Find industry benchmark ratios from the “Industry Averages and Ratios” section. All the financial ratios for the company you’ve picked need to be calculated.
2. Based on the comparison of financial ratios, briefly evaluate the company’s performance/financial health in the latest fiscal year from the five perspectives of liquidity, financial leverage, asset management, profitability, and market value. Use Du Pont analysis in your interpretation of the company’s ROE. You may also comment on the company’s stock performance in 2016/2017, too. Please attach the worksheet and the company’s financial statements to your analysis. Your analysis itself (excluding the worksheet and other attachments) should not exceed two pages.

Comparison of                                              ’s Financial Ratios with Industry Benchmark