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Using the Walmart Corporation- 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 investor/investment analysis. Some suggested websites are: Investopedia, Yahoo! Finance, MSN MOney, and The Wall Street Journal. Other reputable websites can also be used. [Dont skip this step! It will provide background context and insight into what youll 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 brief 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 wont 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 current 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 references, etc.)

• Make sure your references include direct links to where you got ALL ratios. Each ratio must be accounted for in your references.

• 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 ratios 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 ratios are displayed for each company. Analysis is not thorough and would benefit from additional detail.	Many of the ratios are not defined and/or discussed. Ratios are not displayed correctly 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 reasoning 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 behind 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 errors in APA, grammar and or punctuation. Formatting is somewhat clean and reader friendly.	Has more than four errors in APA, grammar and or punctuation. Formatting is not clean nor reader friendly.

N S W = Needs Significant Work D = Developing WD = Well Developed

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