Assignment 1
Purpose of Assignment
The purpose of this assignment is to help students gain a better understanding of the financial statements used for corporate financial reporting and the key ratios used to make business decisions.
Steps
Select a Fortune 500 company from one of the following industries:
Pharmaceutical
Energy
Retail
Automotive
Computer Hardware
Review the balance sheet and income statement in the company's 2015 Annual Report.
Calculate the following ratios using Microsoft Excel:
Current Ratio
Quick Ratio
Debt Equity Ratio
Inventory Turnover Ratio
Receivables Turnover Ratio
Total Assets Turnover Ratio
Profit Margin (Net Margin) Ratio
Return on Assets Ratio
Analyze in 1,050 words why each ratio is important for financial decision making.
Assignment 2
Purpose of Assignment
The purpose of this assignment is to allow students the opportunity to research a Fortune 500 company stock using the popular online research tool, Yahoo Finance. The tool allows the student to review analyst reports and other key financial information necessary to evaluate the stock value and make an educated decision on whether to invest.
Steps
Select a Fortune 500 company from one of the following industries:
Pharmaceutical
Energy
Retail
Automotive
Computer Hardware
Manufacturing
Mining
Access Yahoo Finance and enter the company name.
Review the financial information and statistics provided for the stock you selected and answer the following:
What is the ticker symbol of the company you chose?
What is the Current Stock Price?
What is the Market Cap for the stock you chose?
What is the Price to Earnings Ratio?
What is the Dividend and Yield?
What is the Enterprise Value?
What is the Beta?
Was there a Stock Split, and if so, when?
What was the closing stock price for the last 5 days?
What was the 52 Week High for this stock?
What is the Book Value per Share?
What type of rating are analysts recommending (i.e. buy, hold, etc.)?
What is the target price analysts are predicting for this stock?
What is the analyst's average revenue estimate for next year?
What are some of the significant news items and press releases made by the company over the last year?
Explain in 700 words why you would or would not recommend investing in this stock.
Describe the relationship between the value of the stock and the price to earnings ratio.
What information does the Market Capitalization (Market Cap) and Beta provide to the investor?
Submit your assignment.
Assignment 3
Purpose of Assignment
The purpose of this assignment is to allow the student to calculate the project cash flow using net present value (NPV), internal rate of return (IRR), and the payback methods.
Assignment Steps
Create a 350-word memo to management including the following:
Describe the use of internal rate of return (IRR), net present value (NPV), and the payback method in evaluating project cash flows.
Describe the break-even point and its importance.
Describe the advantages and disadvantages of each method.
Calculate the following time value of money problems:
If you want to accumulate $500,000 in 20 years, how much do you need to deposit today that pays an interest rate of 15%?
What is the future value if you plan to invest $200,000 for 5 years and the interest rate is 5%?
What is the interest rate for an initial investment of $100,000 to grow to $300,000 in 10 years?
If your company purchases an annuity that will pay $50,000/year for 10 years at a 11% discount rate, what is the value of the annuity on the purchase date if the first annuity payment is made on the date of purchase?
What is the rate of return required to accumulate $400,000 if you invest $10,000 per year for 20 years. Assume all payments are made at the end of the period.
Calculate the project cash flow generated for Project A and Project B using the NPV method.
Which project would you select, and why?
Which project would you select under the payback method? The discount rate is 10% for both projects.
Assignment 4
Purpose of Assignment
The purpose of this assignment is to allow the student an opportunity to calculate the rate of return of equity and debt instruments. It allows the student to understand the effects of dividends; capital gains; inflation rates; and how the nominal rate of return affects valuation and pricing. The assignment also allows the student to apply concepts related to CAPM, WACC, and Flotation Costs to understand the influence of debt and equity on the company's capital structure.
Steps
Calculate the following problems and provide an overall summary of how companies make financial decisions in no more than 700 words, based on your answers:
Stock Valuation: A stock has an initial price of $100 per share, paid a dividend of $2.00 per share during the year, and had an ending share price of $125. Compute the percentage total return, capital gains yield, and dividend yield.
Total Return: You bought a share of 4% preferred stock for $100 last year. The market price for your stock is now $120. What was your total return for last year?
CAPM: A stock has a beta of 1.20, the expected market rate of return is 12%, and a risk-free rate of 5 percent. What is the expected rate of return of the stock?
WACC: The Corporation has a targeted capital structure of 80% common stock and 20% debt. The cost of equity is 12% and the cost of debt is 7%. The tax rate is 30%. What is the company's weighted average cost of capital (WACC)?
Flotation Costs: Medina Corp. has a debt-equity ratio of .75. The company is considering a new plant that will cost $125 million to build. When the company issues new equity, it incurs a flotation cost of 10%. The flotation cost on new debt is 4%. What is the initial cost of the plant if the company raises all equity externally?
Assignment 5
Purpose of Assignment
The purpose of this assignment is to allow the student an opportunity to explain what it means to have an efficient capital market. Students will gain an understanding of the different levels of market efficiency and how behavioral finance can inhibit reaching market transparency.
Steps
Explain in 525 words what it means to have efficient capital market, including:
Describe the behavioral challenges in achieving efficiency.
Discuss the three forms of market efficiency.
What are the implications to corporate finance?
Would you consider the real estate market an efficient capital market? Please explain why or why not.
Assignment 6
About Your Signature Assignment
This signature assignment is designed to align with specific program student learning outcome(s) in your program. Program Student Learning Outcomes are broad statements that describe what students should know and be able to do upon completion of their degree. The signature assignments may be graded with an automated rubric that allows the University to collect data that can be aggregated across a location or college/school and used for program improvements.
Purpose of Assignment
The purpose of this assignment is to allow the student an opportunity to apply their understanding of cash flow management, break-even analysis, and short-term and long-term financing in starting and growing a business.
Steps
Prepare a 12- to 15-slide PowerPoint® presentation with speaker notes requesting initial funding of $500,000 to start and run a start-up company. The proposed start-up company could be an existing business model (coffee shop, pet store, etc.), or could be something entirely new and exciting.
Create the presentation in the following format, with at least one slide to cover each of the following areas:
Title Page
Table of Contents
Executive Summary
Information about the Industry
Marketing Plan
Competitor Analysis
3 Year Income Statement (Profit & Loss) Projections
Your assumptions for why and how you will achieve your sales growth and what significant expenses and investments you expect to incur to achieve your revenue goals
3 Year Proposed Funding Schedule (sources and uses of the funds received)
Break-Even Analysis
Academic and Business References
Review the following scenarios and assumption, and explain how it impacts your decision to expand:
After Year 3, the investors are interested in your company expanding internationally to possibly outsource labor or to reduce manufacturing costs. What countries would you expand to first, and why? What factors would you need to consider in making this decision?
What is the corporate tax rate in the countries you are considering expanding your business to, and how will that affect your decision to expand globally? (Use OECD Database or another resource to determine the corporate tax rate).
The investors want to see a decision tree detailing the decisions you would make if you received $300K now and $200K at the end of three years instead of $500K up front.
The investors would like your team to provide advantages and disadvantages of using debt financing versus selling company stock to raise capital for growth.
Briefly explain the venture capital process. Does it make sense for your company to raise funds through venture capital?
Format your assignment according to the following formatting requirements:
1. The answer should be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides.
2. The response also includes a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student's name, the course title, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.
3. Also include a reference page. The Citations and references should follow APA format. The reference page is not included in the required page length.