Use Market Insight to find information about Vulcan Materials Company (VMC), Southwest Airlines (LUV), Honda Motor Company (HMC), Nordstrom, Inc. (JWN), and Abbott Laboratories (ABT). Use the Excel Analytics section to find the most recent Income Statement and Balance Sheet.

a. Calculate the Operating Profi t Margin (Operating Profi t/Sales) and the Asset Turnover

(Sales/Assets) for each fi rm.

b. Calculate the Return on Assets directly (ROA Operating Profi t/Total Assets) and then confi rm it by calculating ROA Operating Margin Asset Turnover.

c. In what industries do these fi rms operate? Do the ratios make sense when you consider the industry types?

d. For the fi rms that have relatively low ROAs, does the source of the problem seem to be the Operating Profi t Margin, the Asset Turnover, or both?

e. Calculate the return on equity (ROE Net Income/Equity) for each fi rm. For the two fi rms with the lowest ROEs, perform a DuPont analysis to isolate the source(s) of the problem.

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