Vital to any ratio analysis are the steps of gathering
financial data and selecting and
calculating relevant ratios. This assignment provides you with an opportunity to do just that.
Task:
Download a company’s balance sheet and income statement from
one of the many sites where financials are available, such as Zacks Investment
Research or MarketWatch.
Choose five financial ratios, one from each of the five
categories described in Chapter 3 of
Brigham and Ehrhardt (i.e., liquidity, asset
management, financial leverage, profitability, and market value)
and look at them over a three-year
period. Put your findings in a table with
the years across the top (horizontal axis) and the ratios along the side (vertical axis). What do the findings
tell you about the financial health of
the company? How does your selected company compare to the industry?
Calculate each ratio using the information from the balance
sheet and income statement.
Write a 2–3-page paper that reports your findings. Apply APA
standards to citation of sources.
