The accounts receivable turnover ratio will vary across companies, depending on the nature of the company's operations. For example, an accounts receivable turnover of 6 for a retailer is unacceptable but might be excellent for a manufacturer of specialty milling equipment. A list of well-known company follows:

Alcoa Inc. The Coco-Cola Company Kroger

AutoZone, Inc. Delta Air Lines Procter & Gamble

Barnes & Noble, Inc. The Home Depot Walmart

Caterpillar IBM Whirlpool Corporation

Required:

1. Categorize each of the preceding companies as to whether its turnover ratio is likely to be above or below 15.

2. Based on your previous answer, identify a characteristic of companies with accounts receivable turnover ratios above 15.

3. For Caterpillar and IBM, find their financial statement's from their most recent 10K, compute the AR Turnover computation and comment on your findings.