FIN516 Mini Case Assignment

FIN516
Mini Case Assignment Guidelines
Company: General Electric
Instructions: Select a major industrial or commercial company based in the United States
that is listed on one of the major stock exchanges in the United States. Each
student should select a different company. Avoid selecting an insurance company or a bank, because the financial
ratios for these financial businesses are different. The last page of your paper should be the bibliography of sources used. Usually, the best place to start your paper is with the latest 10-K Report of
your selected company. Write a 7–8-page, double-spaced paper answering the questions below
supported by calculations, operating, and financial information.
Questions:
1. What is the name of the company? What is its industry sector?
2. What are the operating risks of the company?
3. What is the financial risk of the company (the debt to total capitalization
ratio)?
4. Does the company have any preferred stock?
5. What is the capital structure of the company: short-term portion of longterm debt, long-term debt, preferred stock (if any), and market value of
common stock issued and outstanding?
6. What is the company’s current actual beta (or equity beta)?
7. What is the company’s current marginal tax rate?
8. What is the cost of debt before and after taxes?
9. What is the cost of preferred stock (if any)?
10. What is the cost of common stock equity? (Use the Capital Asset Pricing
Model.)
11. What is the weighted average cost of capital of the company?
12. How has the company’s stock been performing in the last 5 years?
1 13. What is the annual cash dividend yield of the common stock?
14. How would you assess the overall risk structure of the company in terms
of its operating risks and financial risk (debt-to-capitalization ratio)?
15. Would you invest in this company? Why or why not?
16. The last page of your paper should be a bibliography of the sources that
you used to prepare this paper.