Simon Company's year-end balance sheets follow.

At December 31	Current Year	1 Year Ago	2 Years Ago
Assets
Cash	$ 35,313	$ 40,468	$ 41,733
Accounts receivable, net	103,351	71,527	54,519
Merchandise inventory	129,944	95,454	59,254
Prepaid expenses	10,814	10,729	4,684
Plant assets, net	307,364	287,672	265,610
Total assets	$ 586,786	$ 505,850	$ 425,800
Liabilities and Equity
Accounts payable	$ 147,571	$ 83,779	$ 57,892
Long-term notes payable	109,213	114,019	95,984
Common stock, $10 par value	163,500	162,500	163,500
Retained earnings	166,502	145,552	108,424
Total liabilities and equity	$ 586,786	$ 505,850	$ 425,800

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

For Year Ended December 31	Current Year		1 Year Ago
Sales		$ 762,822		$ 601,962
Cost of goods sold	$ 465,321		$ 391,275
Other operating expenses	236,475		152,296
Interest expense	12,968		13,845
Income tax expense	9,917		9,029
Total costs and expenses		724,681		566,445
Net income		$ 38,141		$ 35,517
Earnings per share		$ 2.35		$ 2.19

Common stock market price, December 31, Current Year	$ 29.00
Common stock market price, December 31, 1 Year Ago	27.00
Annual cash dividends per share in Current Year	0.38
Annual cash dividends per share 1 Year Ago	0.19

1. Return on equity.

   Return On Equity
   	Numerator:	/	Denominator:	=	Return On Equity
   		/		=	Return on equity
   Current Year:		/		=		%
   1 Year Ago:		/		=		%

   2. Dividend yield.

   Dividend Yield
   	Numerator:	/	Denominator:	=	Dividend Yield
   		/		=	Dividend yield
   Current Year:		/		=		%
   1 Year Ago		/		=		%

   3a. Price-earnings ratio on December 31

   Price-Earnings Ratio
   	Numerator:	/	Denominator:	=	Price-Earnings Ratio
   		/		=	Price-earnings ratio
   Current Year:		/		=
   1 Year Ago:		/		=

   3b. Assuming Simon's competitor has a price-earnings ratio of 6, which company has higher market expectations for future growth?