FINANCE PROJECT

DUE ON: DECEMBER 13 BY MIDNIGHT

FIN201 – Fall 2015

Company Analysis Report

Instructions:

· You can work in groups of two or less and turn in one report for each group. A group of two students will have to analyze two firms. If you are working by yourself then you have to analyze only one firm.

· Please turn in one report for each group.

· Your report has to be typed in Word format.

· You are required to use Times New Roman and size 12 font. Your report has to be double spaced.

· Do not forget to put your name on the word document.

· Please submit your project by uploading the Word file on Blackboard.

· Please label your files as follows ( Project_FirstName_ FirstName

Company Selection:

· Select a company that is publically traded. (Use www.finance.yahoo.com to search for your company)

· Select a US firm.

· Do not choose banks or insurance companies.

Company Information:

· Use the following website to obtain information about the company: http://www.netadvantage.standardandpoors.com/NASApp/NetAdvantage/index.do (Please note that this website is accessible only on a Quinnipiac University network connection.)

· You will see “simple search” on the right hand side of your screen. Enter the company name or ticker.

· You will see “stock reports” on the left hand side of your screen. Click on PDF and download a PDF version of the stock report for the firm you selected. You will use the information in this stock report for your analysis.

· If you are not able to locate your stock report, then please let me know the name of your firm and I will email a copy of the report to you.

REPORT:

1) Title page:

a. The names of all students in your group

b. The course name and date.

c. The company name

d. Ticker symbol

e. Recent stock price. You may use the stock price on the day you started working on this report. (provide the date).

2) Company Description: Write a brief description of the firm (one page). What is the mission of the firm and what does the firm do? Provide a brief history of the firm. Is there anything unique about the firm? You can find this information on the stock report you downloaded, firm’s website or the Wall Street Journal. You may use other sources but please remember to cite all your sources.

3) Ratio Analysis: You may use the data in the stock report for your ratio analysis.

Calculate the following ratios for the year 2015 ( Please show your work. Do not just copy the ratios from the stock report.

a) Current Ratio

b) Debt to Total Capital Ratio

c) Profit Margin – (Return on Revenue)

d) Return on Assets

e) Return on Equity

f) Price to Earnings (Use the price on the day you started the report to calculate the P/E ratio.

g) Market to Book (Use the price on the day you started the report to calculate the M/B ratio. You may not find this ratio in the stock report.)

· Please discuss why each of these above ratios are important and discuss how these ratios have changed over time. (You can see the ratios for the past years in the stock report.)

· In the stock report you will also find a “Peer Group” of firms under the “Sub-Industry Outlook”. Please pick two firms from this peer group and compare the above ratios of the firm with the peer group. (Here you will have to download the stock report for the two peer group firms as well.) It will help if you can create a small table and present the ratios for the firm and the peer group. You need to compare and discuss only the 2015 ratios.

4) Firm Analysis and compare to Industry averages:

a. BETA

b. Dividend Yield

c. Market Capitalization

· Discuss the above terms in your report – How are they calculated and why they are important.

· Use the industry data under “Sub-Industry outlook” and calculate the average industry Beta, Dividend Yield and Market Cap. Compare the average values to the firm values.

5) Discuss the recent developments and issues facing your firm now and in the foreseeable future. Talk about the firm’s future prospects. Address both positive and negative aspects of the firm’s current condition and outlook. (One page long)

6) The stock report you download provides a recommendation to buy, sell or hold the stock. Please read the stock report carefully and explain why would or would not agree with the analyst’s recommendation. You may use other sources to justify your answer. (One page long)