Compare the 8 financial ratios listed below for the four companies. Answer the following questions.

1. How would you rank the four firms in terms of financial performance?

2. Why might their financial performances differ?

3. What economic or market factors might account for big differences in P/E ratios?

	Merck & Co	Pfizer Inc.	Target TGT	Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
Current ratio(current asset/Current liabilities)	1.55	1.49	1.12	0.93
Sales/total assets	0.39	0.49	1.83	2.52
times interest earned (EBIT/Interest)	N/A	N/A	9.11	9.49
Total debt /Equity	13.38	71.48	238.9	138.9
Net income/Total asset	0.04	0.04	0.08	0.03
Net income/Common Equity	2.48	15.16	67.26	46.35
P/E or P/E Ratio	33.57	31.24	11.35	14.34