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Individual Learning Project Liberty
Individual Learning Project Liberty
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This project will allow you the opportunity to explore a company’s annual report and become familiar with the items it contains. Choose a company from Standard & Poor’s Net Advantage whose company’s name begins with the same letter as your last name. Locate the most recent annual report, either from the Liberty University library’s access to Standard & Poor’s website, the EDGAR database (http://www.sec.gov/), or the company’s website. Once located, open Individual Learning Project Questions document and add your answers underneath each question. Do not delete the questions. Questions 1–49 must be answered with Microsoft Word. Your answers for these do not need to be in complete sentences. Questions 50–52 must be answered in Microsoft Excel and your answers must include formulas. Questions 53–55 must be answered with complete sentences and justification within the Word document. Both documents (Word and Excel) must be uploaded into the Assignment link.
To access the Liberty University Library online resources from off campus:
- From the Blackboard log-in page, right-hand side “Quicklinks” pull-down menu — choose “Library.”
- Click log-in button. Off-site access cannot be gained unless the user successfully completes the log-in.
- This must take you to the “Library Research Portal”; if not, click on “Portal.”
- Click on the “databases” tab.
- Click on the “Databases by Letter,” and select the letter “S.”
- Scroll down until you see “Standard & Poor’s NetAdvantage.”
- Click on the link and then you may begin your search.
Individual Learning Project Liberty
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Tips for choosing a company:
- This project will be easier and more meaningful if you select a company that you have heard of before and one whose basic operations you are familiar with.
- If the company you select is no longer in operation, either because they have been acquired, been through bankruptcy, etc., it is not an appropriate selection; if you want to do a company that has been acquired, you may do the project on the new parent company instead – please clear this with your instructor in advance if the parent company does not begin with the same letter as your last name.
- Locate the company’s annual report before you begin substantial work on the project! That way, if you run into an issue mentioned above, you will not need to start over. The company you choose needs to have issued a 10-K/Annual Report within the past year.
Here is the project outline questions:
Individual Learning Project Questions
Name_______________________________
General Information:
- What is the name of your corporation?
- Where are the corporate headquarters?
- What is the corporation’s fiscal year end?
- What are the primary products or services of the corporation?
- Graph the high and low price of the company’s stock for each quarter of the last two years. What was the high and what was the low?
- Who is the company’s transfer agent and where are they located?
- Who are your company’s competitors?
Market Information:
- On which stock exchange is your corporation’s stock traded?
- What is the current market price of their stock?
- What is the ticker symbol used to identify your corporation on the stock exchange?
Internet Information:
- What is the Internet address of your corporation? Be sure it appears as a hyperlink.
- Is the corporation’s Annual Report online?
- Are its financial statements on-line?
- Is your company listed on Annualreports.com?
- How long is your company’s 10-K report at the Securities and Exchange Commission website (Edgar Database)?
Individual Learning Project Liberty
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Cash Flow and Retained Earnings:
- List the amount of cash flows from each of the 3 activities: Operating, Investing, and Financing for the 2 most recent years. What was the increase or decrease in cash for each of these years?
- Were there any Non-Cash Investing/Financing Transactions? Describe the type and amount.
- What is the dollar difference between accrual net income and Cash provided by Operations?
- What investing activity provided the largest inflow of cash in the current year?
- What investing activity used the largest amount of cash in the current year?
- What financing activity provided the largest inflow of cash in the current year?
- What financing activity used the largest amount of cash in the current year?
- Does the company have sufficient cash inflows from the appropriate category? Describe any problems the company many experience with cash flow from your analysis of the cash flow statement.
- Show the change in Retained Earnings for the 2 most recent years. What was net income for each year? How much was paid out in dividends each year?
- Were the dividends on common stock and/or preferred stock? What was the amount of each?
- Did Retained Earnings change for any reasons other than net income or dividends? Explain.
- What classes of stock does your company have?
- How many shares of each class of stock are authorized, how many are issued, and how many are outstanding?
- Does your company have any treasury stock? How many shares and what dollar amount?
- What is the par or stated value of each of your company’s stocks?
Footnote Disclosures:
- How many footnote disclosures does your company have?
- How many significant accounting policies are listed under its Summary of Significant Accounting Policies?
- What does it include as Cash and Cash Equivalents?
- What method does it use to value Inventory?
- What method(s) does it use to depreciate its assets?
- Does it have any leased assets? If yes, describe them.
- What policies does it have in regard to Foreign Currency Translations?
- Describe any pending lawsuits in which it is involved.
- Provide its Earnings per Share for the 2 most recent years?
Individual Learning Project Liberty
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Report of the Independent Auditor(s):
- Who is/are your company’s auditor(s)?
- Where are they located?
- Does the auditor(s) give a qualified opinion, an unqualified opinion, a disclaimer of opinion, or an adverse opinion? What does that opinion mean? Is it good?
- What is the auditor’s responsibility in regard to the financial statements?
- What is management’s responsibility in regard to the financial statements?
- What financial statements were included in the auditor’s opinion?
- Did the auditor believe that the statements were presented fairly?
Management’s Report:
- Who bears the responsibility for the integrity and the objectivity of the financial statements?
- What does management say they are doing to assure the public that the financial information is reliable?
- What is the responsibility of the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors?
Analysis: (use Excel to complete this section)
- Provide common-size analysis of your company’s income statement and balance sheet for the 2 most recent years (must be done using Excel with formulas).
- Provide horizontal analysis of your company’s income statement and balance sheet, showing the dollar amount and percent of change using the 2 most recent years (you must use an Excel spreadsheet with formulas).
- Perform ratio analysis on your company using the ratios listed in Exhibit 13.16 on page 505 of your text (these must be in an Excel spreadsheet, using formulas to calculate the ratios). You should present them in a similar format as the text: group by category, list name of ratio, formula in words, and the ratio calculation. Give a short explanation of your conclusions about your company after each category of ratios (i.e. How liquid is your company? How efficiently is it using its assets? etc.).
Individual Learning Project Liberty
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Conclusions:
- Are you optimistic or pessimistic regarding the future of your chosen corporation? Explain.
- Would you invest in the stock of the company? Explain.
- Would you invest in the bonds of the company? Explain.
