fin 534 assignment #1

· Assignment 1: Due Date of Sunday, December 6th.

Posted on: Monday, November 23, 2015

Assignment 1: Financial Research Report:  Due Date of Sunday, December 6th. Due Week 9 and worth 300 points

Imagine that you are a financial manager researching investments for your client that align with its investment goals. Use the Internet or the Strayer Library to research any U.S. publicly traded company that you may consider as an investment opportunity for your client. (Note: Please ensure that you are able to find enough information about this company in order to complete this assignment. You will create an appendix, in which you will insert related information.)

The assignment covers the following topics:

· Rationale for choosing the company for which to invest

· Ratio analysis 

· Stock price analysis

· Recommendations

Write a ten to fifteen (10-15) page paper in which you:

1. Provide a rationale for the U.S. publicly traded company that you selected, indicating the significant factors driving your decision as a financial manager. NOTE: Please state whether your firm is listed on the NYSE or on NASDAQ, and provide the TICKER SYMBOL for the firm. You may go to Yahoo Finance or to Google Finance to find out the symbol for the firm. Please incorporate chapter 1’s material regarding the financial manager.

2. Determine the profile of the investor for which this company may be a fit, relative to that potential investor’s investment strategy. Provide support for your rationale.

NOTE: You will want to address risk, capital gains, and dividends in this topic relative to the investment strategy. You may to review the material in chapters 6, 7, and 14.

1. Select any five (5) financial ratios that you have learned about in the text. Analyze the past three (3) years of the company’s financial data, which you may obtain from the company’s financial statements. Determine the company’s financial health. (Note: Suggested ratios include, but are not limited to, current ratio, quick ratio, earnings per share, and price earnings ratio.)

NOTE: Please regard 112, table 3.1. Please choose 5 financial ratios and show the construction of the ratios for 2014, 2013, and 2012 using the balance sheet information and the income statement information for the firm of choice from Yahoo Finance. Please note that just stating the ratios without showing how they are constructed will not earn full credit on this section.

1. Based on your financial review, determine the risk level of the company from your investor’s point of view. Indicate key strategies that you may use in order to minimize these perceived risks.

NOTE: Chapter 6’s material relative to risk and the beta of the firm should be addressed. You will also want to address risk mitigation relative to the material in chapter 8 regarding the use of derivatives and financial options.

1. Provide your recommendations of this stock as an investment opportunity. Support your rationale with resources, such as peer-reviewed articles or material from the Strayer Library.

NOTE: The material from chapters 7, 9, 12 and 14 may be incorporated in to this section. You may also want to provide a graph for the stock over the past years to help support your recommendation.

1. Use at least five (5) quality academic resources in this assignment. Note: Wikipedia and other Websites do not qualify as academic resources.

Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:

· Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.

· Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.

The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:

· Critique financial management strategies that support business operations in various market environments.

· Analyze financial statements for key ratios, cash flow positions, and taxation effects.

· Review fixed income strategies using time value of money concept, bond valuation methods, and interest rate calculations.

· Estimate the risk and return on financial investments.

· Apply financial management options to corporate finance.

· Determine the cost of capital and how to maximize returns.

· Formulate cash flow analysis for capital projects including project risks and returns.

· Evaluate how corporate valuation and forecasting affect financial management.

· Analyze how capital structure decision-making practices impact financial management.

· Use technology and information resources to research issues in financial management.

· Write clearly and concisely about financial management using proper writing mechanics.

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