Exam 3: Analysis of Financial Statements

Stewart Inc.'s latest EPS was $3.50, its book value per share was $22)75, it had 215,000 shares outstanding, and its debt ratio was 46%. How much debt was outstanding?

Significant variations in accounting methods among firms make meaningful ratio comparisons between firms more difficult than if all firms used similar accounting methods.

Orono Corp.'s sales last year were $435,000, its operating costs were $362,500, and its interest charges were $12,500. What was the firm's times interest earned (TIE) ratio?

Safeco's current assets total to $20 million versus $10 million of current liabilities, while Risco's current assets are $10 million versus $20 million of current liabilities. Both firms would like to "window dress" their end-of-year financial statements, and to do so they tentatively plan to borrow $10 million on a short-term basis and to then hold the borrowed funds in their cash accounts. Which of the statements below best describes the results of these transactions?

Last year Urbana Corp. had $197,500 of assets, $307,500 of sales, $19,575 of net income, and a debt-to-total-assets ratio of 37.5%. The new CFO believes a new computer program will enable it to reduce costs and thus raise net income to $33,000. Assets, sales, and the debt ratio would not be affected. By how much would the cost reduction improve the ROE?

A decline in a firm's inventory turnover ratio suggests that it is managing its inventory more efficiently and also that its liquidity position is improving, i.e., it is becoming more liquid.

The balance sheet and income statement shown below are for Pettijohn Inc. Note that the firm has no amortization charges, it does not lease any assets, none of its debt must be retired during the next 5 years, and the notes payable will be rolled over. -What is the firm's dividends per share?

The basic earning power ratio (BEP) reflects the earning power of a firm's assets after giving consideration to financial leverage and tax effects.

Which of the following would indicate an improvement in a company's financial position, holding other things constant?

Walter Industries' current ratio is 0.5. Considered alone, which of the following actions would increase the company's current ratio?

Suppose Firms A and B have the same amount of assets, pay the same interest rate on their debt, have the same basic earning power (BEP), and have the same tax rate. However, Firm A has a higher debt ratio. If BEP is greater than the interest rate on debt, Firm A will have a higher ROE as a result of its higher debt ratio.

Rappaport Corp.'s sales last year were $320,000, and its net income after taxes was $23,000. What was its profit margin on sales?

Suppose firms follow similar financing policies, face similar risks, have equal access to capital, and operate in competitive product and capital markets. Under these conditions, then firms that have high profit margins will tend to have high asset turnover ratios, and firms with low profit margins will tend to have low turnover ratios.

HD Corp. and LD Corp. have identical assets, sales, interest rates paid on their debt, tax rates, and EBIT. However, HD uses more debt than LD. Which of the following statements is CORRECT?

Last year Vaughn Corp. had sales of $315,000 and a net income of $17,832, and its year-end assets were $210,000. The firm's total-debt-to-total- assets ratio was 42.5%. Based on the Du Pont equation, what was Vaughn's ROE?

Muscarella Inc. has the following balance sheet and income statement data: The new CFO thinks that inventories are excessive and could be lowered sufficiently to cause the current ratio to equal the industry average, 2.70, without affecting either sales or net income. Assuming that inventories are sold off and not replaced to get the current ratio to the target level, and that the funds generated are used to buy back common stock at book value, by how much would the ROE change?

The balance sheet and income statement shown below are for Pettijohn Inc. Note that the firm has no amortization charges, it does not lease any assets, none of its debt must be retired during the next 5 years, and the notes payable will be rolled over. -What is the firm's profit margin?

If the CEO of a large, diversified, firm were filling out a fitness report on a division manager (i.e., "grading" the manager), which of the following situations would be likely to cause the manager to receive a better grade? In all cases, assume that other things are held constant.

One problem with ratio analysis is that relationships can be manipulated. For example, we know that if our current ratio is less than 1.0, then using some of our cash to pay off some of our current liabilities would cause the current ratio to increase and thus make the firm look stronger.

The balance sheet and income statement shown below are for Pettijohn Inc. Note that the firm has no amortization charges, it does not lease any assets, none of its debt must be retired during the next 5 years, and the notes payable will be rolled over. -What is the firm's P/E ratio?