USING COMMON SIZE DATA FOR INVESTMENT ANALYSIS Assume that you are a trust officer for the West Side Bank. 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 8.3% 9.8% 7.9% 7.2% 10.1%

Net income growth 13.0 12.0 10.7 4.2 16.1 Asset growth 5.0 6.1 4.6 4.4 6.2 Current Year Return on equity 16.2% 17.5% 17.5% 19.4% 21.6%

Return on assets 8.5 7.8 12.7 8.4 11.4 Dividend payout 43.0 40.0 23.0 31.0 31.0 Required:

Comment on the relative performance of these firms.