USING COMMON SIZE DATA FOR INVESTMENT ANALYSIS Assume that you are a trust officer for the Bank of New York. You are attempting to select a pharmaceutical manufacturer’s stock for a client’s portfolio. You have secured the following data:

Five-Year Averages Industry Average Firm A Firm B Firm C Firm D Sales growth 9.3% 8.8% 10.2% 10.0% 7.9%

Net income growth 16.0 15.3 18.9 17.4 15.6 Asset growth 7.0 6.6 8.3 8.9 6.3 Current Year Return on equity 19.5% 18.4% 22.7% 20.8% 17.3%

Return on assets 11.7 10.4 13.7 12.8 11.1 Dividend payout 31.0 30.0 39.0 37.0 29.0 Required:

Comment on the relative performance of these firms.