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[The following information applies to the questions displayed below.] Simon Company's year-end balance sheets follow.

At December 31	Current Year	1 Year Ago	2 Years Ago
Assets
Cash	$ 28,056	$ 33,457	$ 34,858
Accounts receivable, net	83,778	59,129	46,942
Merchandise inventory	104,302	76,603	49,498
Prepaid expenses	9,035	8,435	3,873
Plant assets, net	255,150	236,446	216,929
Total assets	$ 480,321	$ 414,070	$ 352,100
Liabilities and Equity
Accounts payable	$ 118,404	$ 70,678	$ 46,477
Long-term notes payable	88,494	94,284	78,592
Common stock, $10 par value	162,500	162,500	162,500
Retained earnings	110,923	86,608	64,531
Total liabilities and equity	$ 480,321	$ 414,070	$ 352,100

For both the current year and one year ago, compute the following ratios:

The companys income statements for the Current Year and 1 Year Ago, follow.

For Year Ended December 31	Current Year		1 Year Ago
Sales		$ 624,417		$ 492,743
Cost of goods sold	$ 380,894		$ 320,283
Other operating expenses	193,569		124,664
Interest expense	10,615		11,333
Income tax expense	8,117		7,391
Total costs and expenses		593,195		463,671
Net income		$ 31,222		$ 29,072
Earnings per share		$ 1.92		$ 1.79

Additional information about the company follows.

Common stock market price, December 31, Current Year	$ 32.00
Common stock market price, December 31, 1 Year Ago	30.00
Annual cash dividends per share in Current Year	0.40
Annual cash dividends per share 1 Year Ago	0.20

For both the current year and one year ago, compute the following ratios: 1. Return on equity. 2. Dividend yield. 3a. Price-earnings ratio on December 31. 3b. Assuming Simon's competitor has a price-earnings ratio of 7, which company has higher market expectations for future growth?