Before beginning an analysis of a company it is necessary to have a complete set of financial statements, preferably for the pas few years so that historical trends can be obtained. Ratios are a way for anyone to get an idea of the financial performance of a company by using the information contained in the financial statements. Ratios are grouped into four basic categories, liquidity, activity, profitability, and financial leverage. This document will use a variety of these ratios to analyze the firm, Sample Company, as of December 31,2000.
Financial Statement Ratios
Profitability Ratios
The ratios returns on investment (ROI) and return on equity (ROE) are two of the most popular measure of profitability of a company and, along with the P/E ratio, have the most significant value of any of the ratios. The DuPont Model expands on the ROI calculation by inserting sales and it's relationship to the companies' generation of profits and utilization of assets into the calculation. Additional profitability ratios include the price earnings ratio (P/E), the dividend payout and the dividend yield. The price earnings ratio helps to indicate to investor how expensive the shares of common stock of a firm are. Dividend yield is part of the stockholders ROI and is represented by the annual cash dividend. Dividend yields have historically been between 3% to 6% for common stock and 5% to 8% for preferred stock. Dividend payout ratio shows the proportion of the earnings paid to common shareholders. Dividend payout for manufacturing companies range from 30% to 50%, but can vary widely.
Dupont Analysis (ROI) - Return on Investment
The return on Investment (ROI) is important because it describes the rate of return the company was able to make on its assets. The ROI, use net income or operating income, as amount of return and average total assets as the amount invested. In general, the average ROI for American merchandising companies is between 8% and