Assignment:
Do some research on credit ratings of the bonds of four given companies (four companies will be given through chat upon agreement) as well as the yields and bond prices. Specifically, write a two-page paper presenting the following information:
What is the bond ratings of each of these companies? Do a search online and see what credit rating Standard & Poor's or Moody's has given these companies. What reasons do you see for the differences in credit ratings between these companies?
Go to FINRA's Bond Center and click on the "search" button. Then enter the ticker symbol of the different companies to see their bond yields and maturity dates. You can also do a Google search on the bond yields for your four companies. Note that most companies have multiple bonds that are currently being traded. Which bond has the longest time before maturity? The least time to maturity? What are the bond prices and bond yields of these bonds? Discuss which of your four companies has the greatest bond yields and which ones have the lowest bond yields. Do these correspond well to the credit ratings that you found for these companies?
Pick out one bond from one of your four companies. Calculate the present value of this bond using the following steps:
Look at the maturity date of the bond. If the maturity date is in five years, then assume you will get five more coupon payments before the bond matures.
Look at the coupon rate for the bond and calculate what the coupon payments will be. For example, if the coupon rate is 4.3% then the payments should be $43.
Take the interest rate you get at your local bank and use this as the discount rate. Calculate the present value of the final bond payment of $1,000 that you will get at the maturity date, and calculate the present value of each of the remaining coupon payments. Compare the present value you get with the current bond price. Divide the present value by ten and see if this is similar to the price of this bond that you see on Morningstar. Note that bond prices are quoted so a bond price of $1,000 would be denoted as "100" or a bond price of $1,100 would be "110". Comparing the price to the present value you computed based on the interest rate you get from your local bank, is the bond a good value? For example, if you get a present value of $1,200 and the bond price is 110, then the bond is a good value given your bank's interest rate.