1. Perform the vertical and horizontal analysis and calculate the ratios as instructed (44.1 points-60% of your grade). Fill the grey cells and round to one decimal. Note that all cells should be populated using formulas NOT hardcoded. You will not earn credit for hardcoding (entering the figures manually).

2. You are a financial analyst. Based on your analysis of Sherwin-Williams (SW) financial statements, provide a brief report to guide investors whether Walmart is a buy (keep) or sell stock. Your report should include the following (29.4 points-40% of your grade):

1. An interpretation of all supportive ratios, horizontal and vertical analysis. (a minimum of 1 page-not to exceed two pages, single space, 12 font size)
   1. Liquidity analysis (8.5 points)
   2. Profitability analysis (8.5 points)
   3. Solvency analysis (8.5 points)
2. Your informed recommendation (buy or sell) about SW with justifications. What is your general impression about Walmart? Support your conclusion (1- paragraph) (3.9 points)

3. To calculate ratios, use the formulas that are provided in your textbook (page 4-51). However, you should use the following formulas for the following ratios:

Return on Assets: Net Income (net earnings)/ Average total assets

Debt ratio: (total debts)/ (total Assets)

Time interest earned: (net earnings + interest expense+ provision for income taxes)/ interest expense

Free cash flow: Net Cash Provided by Operating Activities - Capital Expenditures Cash Dividends paid

Dividend Payout Ratio= Dividends per share/ EPS

4. Vertical analysis [common size analysis in your textbook] expresses the items of each statement for the period relative to a base figure. For example, exhibit 4.4 expresses each item of the B/S as a percentage of total assets whereas exhibit 5.6 expresses each item of the I/S as a percentage of total sales.

Horizontal analysis [rate of change in your textbook] evaluates the trends over a period of time. For example, exhibit 4.5 calculates the rate of change of each item of the B/S from 2016 to 2017 whereas exhibit 5.7 reports the rate of change of each item of the I/S from 2016 to 2017.

I guess my real question is what are the steps to answer these questions on an excel document.