Task:
The Company Analysis project is designed to give you a chance to practically apply the material covered during the course in a “real-world” scenario as well as to familiarize you with the business research resources available to you. After you have completed the project, you should be comfortable researching any company in which you may want to invest, seek employment, or do business.
Group Work: You may work in groups of two to three students. You can pick your own group.
If you choose to work in a group of two students then you have to analyze two firms. If you choose to work in a group of three students then you have to analyze three firms. If you work by yourself then you analyze only one firm. Please submit one report for each group.
Company Selection: Pick a firm that has been publicly traded for at least five year, pays dividend and has debt.
Report: Your written report should be 8-10 pages long (typed and double spaced; tables and graphs can be submitted as appendices) and should include the following information:
1)Title page:
Names of all your team members.
The company name.
Ticker symbol
Stock exchange where your company trades.
Recent stock price. You may use the stock price on the day you started working on this report. (provide the date).
2)Company and Industry Description: Provide an introduction and description of the company and the industry. What is the mission of the firm and what does the firm do? Provide a brief history of the firm as well as a brief summary of any recent major news events related to the company. Please remember to cite all your sources.
Use the following link to find the Annual Report for your company: https://www.sec.gov/edgar/searchedgar/companysearch.html
3)Financial Statement and Ratio Analysis:
Use the financial statements from “Yahoo Finance”. Use the “Excel Template file – Company Financial Ratios” to help you calculate the ratios.
Provide a brief discussion of the Balance Sheet, Income Statement and Statement of Cash Flows. This discussion should highlight a few key items that you consider particularly noteworthy and not be a rehash of numbers from the statements themselves.
An analysis of the financial ratios, including trends, and explanation of their significance. The most important part of this section is your interpretation and analysis of the ratios rather than the ratios themselves. (You can focus your discussion on the financial ratios listed in the excel file.)
Compare your company to other companies in the industry based on the above ratios. Make sure you compare your company to at least two other companies.
