ANNUAL REPORT PROJECT Select a publicly-traded company to analyze, and email your professor for approval before doing any work. When selecting companies to analyze, select an industry and firms in which you have an interest. Once approved obtain the financial statements for the past three years from the firms website, Yahoo.com/finance, or other source. Write a report as though you were advising a relatively knowledgeable investor who is considering purchasing stock in your company. Your objective is to inform the investor of those attributes of your company you believe the investor should consider in making an investment decision. Your objective is not to sell the company; so be objective. The body of the report should contain the following sections: 1. Summary: Summarize those attributes you believe are most important to a prospective investor. Identify the major strengths and weaknesses. 2. Company Description: Identify major products and market segments. 3. Industry Attributes: Briefly describe any attributes of the industry that have a major effect on the performance of your company. For example, what factors affect demand for the companys product? 4. Profitability. Has the company been profitable over the last 3 years? Have profits increased or decreased? Perform a DuPont Analysis. 5. Operating, Investing and Financing Cash Flows: Have operating, investing, and financing cash flows over the last 3 years been positive? 6. Growth. Is the company growing? Consider changes in total assets, current assets, and long-term assets. What is the dividend payout ratio? 7. Capital Structure: How is the company financed (debt or equity)? Has this ratio changed much in the last 3 years? 8. Operating Cycle: What is the companys inventory conversion period, receivables conversion period, payables deferral period, and cash conversion period? 9. Asset Structure: Is the company capital intensive (percent of long-term assets to total assets)? What is the companys profit margin and asset turnover? 10. Stock Price: What has happened to the companys stock price over the last 3 years? What is the companys dividend? Has it changed in the last 3 years? What is the companys beta? What do you think has accounted for the price change? Write a paragraph or two about each of the above sections. Also, cut and past the income statement into Appendix A, the balance sheet into Appendix B, and statement of cash flows into Appendix C, all of which can be referenced in the body of your report. The data in the financial statements will be particularly helpful in supporting your assessment of the company. For example, if you go to Yahoo.com/finance and in the search for news, symbols, or companies field, enter Wal-Mart or WMT (which is Wal-Marts ticker symbol), you wil see information about the firm. In the Summary tab, you can find the stock chart, and select the time period you want to view. By clicking on the tab Financials, you can find the financial statements for the company (Income Statement, Cash Flows, Balance Sheet); make sure here you are looking at annual data, as opposed to quarterly data.