Assignment #4– Investor Analysis
Due Sunday Week 7
75 Points
Using the company that you selected for Assignment #1- Examining Financial Statements you
will be conducting an investor analysis. You will also need to select two additional companies
within the same industry for comparative analysis.
Note: Please read the documents related to investor analysis under Documents & Resources in
Week 7. Additionally, search online for information regarding investo
investment analysis.
Some suggested websites are: Investopedia, Yahoo! Finance, MSN MOney, and The Wall Street
Journal. Other reputable websites can also be used. [Don’t skip this step! It will provide
ackground context and insight into what you’ll be doing for this assignment.] You will notice
that there are many methods to performing an analysis from the perspective of an investor. Some
are quantitative while others are qualitative. A mix of the two are used for an effective analysis.
There is no one exact way to perform this type of analysis. The analysis you will be performing
for this assignment is considered as a type of ‘fundamental’ analysis.
Introduction
Briefly describe each company. Discuss the similarities and differences among the companies.
Your discussion should include relative size (revenues, employees, markets, etc.) , diversity of
operations, markets in which they operate, and strategic focus. Any other talking points that are
stressed by analysts should also be mentioned. Also state your personal objective as a potential
investor. For example, are you looking for high growth potential? High dividend payout? Ethical
investment? Etc.…. Explain.
Ratios
The ratios you will be analyzing for all 3 companies are as follows:
❖ Earnings per share (EPS)
❖ Price- earnings ratio (P/E)
❖ Dividend Payout
❖ Dividend Yield
❖ Leverage ratio
❖ Gross Margin
❖ Net Profit Margin
❖ ROA
❖ ROE
● In this section, define AND discuss all NINE ratios. What information does each ratio give?
Explain why investors would be interested in these particular ratios. You may need to research
online for additional resources related to the selected ratios (include references).
● You will also need to show the ratios for ALL 3 companies. This means that you will provide
a chart with a total of 27 ratios, nine for each company. Ratios can either be calculated using
their financial statements and stock price information, or you can find the selected ratios on
the MSN Money website. [https:
www.msn.com/en-us/money ] Scroll down and enter your
company into the Quote Search Box.
Display the ratios in a chart as follows
Ratio Company 1 Company 2 Company 3
● Provide a
ief analysis of each company based on the ratio results. Be specific. Highlight
similarities and differences. For instance, the ratios cover the topics of shareholder value,
investor risk, operating profitability and efficiency. Be sure to address all of these issues in
your analysis.
Investment Selection and Additional Information
Research and Discuss recent news articles about the companies that may be helpful in providing
additional information about the health of the companies. (Read between the lines. Often times,
articles won’t directly say how the news may affect the health of a company. You have to
speculate how it may affect the company. For example, a news article reports the recall of a
product. This could negatively affect sales and impact various ratios. An article might talk about
a company opening new stores. This requires significant investments, may require debt
financing, and this would impact various ratios as well. Furthermore, expansion could mean
increased revenue, etc.) Select one article for each company that you consider to be the most
significant cu
ent issue facing the company at this time (or in recent history).
Based on your ratio analysis and additional research of the companies, state which company you
would invest in and why. (You can only choose one!)
Additional Instructions
➢ The document should include the same headings listed above (Introduction etc.).
➢ The document should be APA formatted (including title page, APA formatted
eferences, etc.)
➢ Make sure your references include direct links to where you got ALL ratios. Each
atio must be accounted for in your references.
https:
www.msn.com/en-us/money
➢ You must upload your file to Blackboard under Week 7 Assignments. Go to the
Assignment, scroll down to “Attach Local File” and click Browse to select YOUR file,
then hit SUBMIT.
Evaluation Criteria for: Assignment 1
Assignment 1 points WD
68 -75 Points
Dev
56 to 67 Points
NSW
55 points or lower
Introduction (20%)
15 points
Provides an overview
of the three selected
companies.
Highlights
similarities and
differences. States
personal objective as
an investor.
Provides a somewhat
clear overview of the
three selected
companies.
Highlights
similarities and
differences. States
personal objective as
an investor.
Provides no clear
overview of the three
selected company.
Similarities and
differences are not
discussed. Personal
objective is unclear
or not mentioned.
Ratios (30%)
22.5 points
Each ratio is defined
and discussed. All
atios are displayed
for each company.
Provides a succinct
yet thorough
analysis of the
companies based on
the ratio results.
Most of the ratios are
defined and
discussed. Most
atios are displayed
for each company.
Analysis is not
thorough and would
enefit from
additional detail.
Many of the ratios
are not defined
and/or discussed.
Ratios are not
displayed co
ectly in
a chart. Analysis is
lacking, or not
included.
Investment Choice
& Additional Info.
(30%)
22.5 points
Discussed additional
information about
the companies based
on recent news
articles. Clearly
states investment
choice and explains
the reasoning behind
the choice.
Additional
information was
discussed for some
of the companies.
Clearly states
investment choice
and explains the
easoning behind the
choice.
Little to no additional
information was
discussed about the
companies.
Investment choice is
not clearly stated
and/or does not
explain reasoning
ehind the choice.
Grammar, Speech
Patterns,
Punctuation and
APA (20%)
15 points
Clearly uses proper
grammar, APA for
in text citations and
for all references.
Formatting is clean
and reader friendly.
Has more than three
e
ors in APA,
grammar and or
punctuation.
Formatting is
somewhat clean and
eader friendly.
Has more than four
e
ors in APA,
grammar and or
punctuation.
Formatting is not
clean nor reader
friendly.
N S W = Needs Significant Work D = Developing WD = Well
Developed