FIN 3403 - Course Project
2009 Fall Term
The purposes of the project are to (1) make students familiar with online services and financial databases that allow individuals to research and better understand the financial aspects of a company, and (2) help students learn about the difficulties of extending financial theory and data to real world applications. The first part of the course project will familiarize students with a number of services and databases. The second part will require students to actually use financial data to analyze such things as a firm’s cost of capital, its economic value added, the fairness of its stock price, and whether the stock is currently a reasonable investment.
Your first step is to download this document to your personal computer. Answers to the following questions/activities should then be posted directly to the Word Document that has been saved to your personal computer (we suggest that you highlight or use a different font color for your answers to make it easier for the TA’s to distinguish your answers form the original document and grade your assignment). After you have completed the assignment, the final step will be to “attach” or “upload” this document when you submit your assignment on the class “assignment” webpage (this is a different process than the graded class discussion boards).
As a student at the University of Florida, you have free access to many of the online services that usually require a subscription. However, you will either need to access these services through a Library-related computer, or go through a “Proxy Server” using your GatorLink account username and password. To access the online Business Library section of the Smathers Library, go to
On the right of the top line, click on “Off-Campus Access”. This will take you to a page that allows you to connect to on-campus services using the Library Proxy Server:
At the top left of the screen, fill in your GatorLink Account Username and Password, and then click Login. This will take you back to the UF Library page:
At the top/middle on the left of the page click the drop-down arrow for “UF Smathers Libraries” and choose, “Business Library”
This takes you back to the Business Library main page, but using the Proxy Server:
Part 1 of the Course Project
You may go to the FIN 3403 class website and click on “My Grades” in the left-hand toolbar. Within the grades file you will find the “Company Ticker Symbol” and “Company Name” for the company that you have been assigned.
The following is a series of questions and activities that will familiarize you with a large number of the online business resources and databases. In some cases you are asked to obtain the same information, but from different sources. You may find that some of this information is not always the same: instead, it is source dependent.
All answers should be added to this file after each (or part of each) of the questions/activities. You should change your font color (or highlight) so that your answers can be easily seen when contrasted against the corresponding question.
Not all data is available for all companies! If data is not available for your specific company, for a specific question, you should state that the data is not available. If a specific webpage is not available for your specific company, you should list the date, time, and the “url” you are trying to access and then state that the webpage is not available.
ABI/INFORM (ProQuest)
Access the online Business Library through the UF Proxy Server.
Click on the Business Databases link under Popular Guides(located in the lower part of the middle of the page).
Click on ABI/INFORM Complete in the middle of the page under All Business Databases:
1.In the first line of “Advanced Search” put in the name of your company and then, using select multiple databases or specific databases of your choosing (drop-down box), hit “Search”.
2.Choose, read, cite, and summarize at least two substantive articles. (One solid paragraph for each article).
BUSINESS SOURCE PREMIER (EBSCO)
Access the online Business Library through the UF Proxy Server. Click on the Business Databases link under Popular Guides(located in the lower part of the middle of the page).
Click on Business Source Premier (EBSCO) in the middle of the page (or click B to get you to that part of the alphabet) under All Business Databases:
1.Put in the name of your company under search field on the top of the page and then hit “Search”.
2.On the left hand side, under the green “Narrow Results By” heading, choose “Trade Publications”.
3.Choose one of the choices listed, cite the “Source (first line of new page), and cut and paste the “Abstract” for that choice.
Lexis-Nexis
Access the online Business Library through the UF Proxy Server. Click on the Business Databases link under Popular Guides(located in the lower part of the middle of the page).
Click on LexisNexis Academic in the middle of the page (or click L to get you to that part of the alphabet) under All Business Databases:
1.Enter the name of your company in the “Search Terms” box. Check “Major U.S. and World Publications,” and Specify date as “Previous 2 years.” Then hit search.
2.Choose, read, cite, and summarize at least two substantive articles. (One solid paragraph for each article).
ProQuest National Newspapers
Access the online Business Library through the UF Proxy Server. Click on the Business Databases link under Popular Guides(located in the lower part of the middle of the page).
Click on ProQuest National Newspapers in the middle of the page (or click P to get you to that part of the alphabet) under All Business Databases:
1.As you will see, this is exactly the same as what you called up for ABI/INFORM, except that the database selection is now listed as “News – ProQuest Newspapers” (if not, change it to that).
1.In the first line of “Advanced Search” put in the name of your company and then, using the ProQuest Newspapers database, hit “Search”.
2.Selecting either the “Magazines” or “Newspapers” tab (both may not be present), choose, read, cite, and summarize at least two substantive articles. (One solid paragraph for each article).
Standard & Poor’s NetAdvantage
Access the online Business Library through the UF Proxy Server. Click on the Business Databases link under Popular Guides(located in the lower part of the middle of the page).
Click on Standard & Poor’s NetAdvantage in the middle of the page(or click S to get you to that part of the alphabet) under All Business Databases:
1.Go to the Stock Report Features Guide under NetAdvantage Guides at the bottom right of the page.
2.Call up, read, and summarize theStock Report Features Guide. (One solid paragraph).
3.Go to The Outlook under Quick Links in the right-hand column. Call up the issue for 10/07/2009. Look at “Market Measures” on the bottom of Page 2 and fill in the Past 52-week % Change for the following items:
A)500 Composite:
B)Midcap 400:
C)Smallcap 600:
D)DJI:
E)NASDAQ Composite:
3.Go back to the main homepage (back arrow) and click on “S&P 500” under Quick Links.Within the “S&P 500 Overview,” summarize the section “How stocks get into the S&P 500.” (One solid paragraph.)
4.Look at the left-hand directory column and click on Companies under S&P Indices / S&P 500, and then answer the following questions:
A)How many companies in the index have a company name that begins with the letter E?
B)List the Companies in the Index that begin with the letter Y.
5.Go back and then look at the left-hand directory column and click on Vital Stats under S&P Indices / S&P 500, and then answer the following questions:
A)How many sectors are there in the S&P 500?
B)How many companies are there from the following exchanges?
1.NYSE:
2.NASDAQ National Market:
C)What is the Total Market Value of the S&P 500?
Go back to the Home page (top row buttons).
6.Enter your ticker symbol under Database Search, and hit the arrow (you may have to select your company from a list -- this will take you to Companies - top row). Look at the left-hand directory column and click on Overview, and then answer the following questions:
A)What is the formal name of your company? :
B)Who is the S&P Analyst for your company? :
7.Look at the left-hand directory column and click on Quote, and then list the:
A) Date :
B) Time :
C) Company Price (Last) Quote :
8.Look at the left-hand directory column and click on Chart, and then list the:
A)“P/E” ratio :
B)“Yield” :
9.Look at the left-hand directory column and click on Valuation, and then answer the following questions:
A)What is the company’s beta?
B)What is the company’s Market Cap?
C)What percentage is held by institutions?
D)What is the company’s most recent 12-month P/E Ratio?
E)What is the company’s P/E Ratio relative to the S&P 500 P/E Ratio?
10.Look at the left-hand directory column and click on Financials, and then answer the following questions:
A)How much Long-Term (LT) Debt does the firm have in the most recent year listed?
B)How much Interest Expense does the firm have in the most recent year listed?
C)What was the firm’s cash flow in the most recent year listed?
D)What was the firm’s % ROE (Return on Equity) in the most recent year listed?
E)What was the firm’s % ROA (Return on Assets) in the most recent year listed?
11.Look at the left-hand directory column and click on Dividends & Stock Splits, and then answer the following questions:
A)Has the firm paid a dividend?
B)If yes, what was the most recent Ex-Dividend date?
C)Has the firm had a stock split (at bottom)?
D)If yes, what was the day of the most recent split?
12.Look at the left-hand directory column and click on Industry Information, and determine its “Average STARS Ranking”.
13.Look at the left-hand directory column and click on Competitors (All), and then answer the following questions:
A)What is the company’s largest competitor in terms of Market Cap?
B)What is the beta of its largest competitor?
14.Look at the left-hand directory column and click on Competitors (S&P Covered), and then answer the following questions:
A)What is the S&P STARS Ranking of the first company listed?
B)What is the P/E ratio of the first company listed?
15.Look at the left-hand directory column and click on Stock Reports - PDF, and then answer the following questions (will need to look beyond the first page):
A)What is the company’s
1.GICS Sector
2.Sub-Industry
3.Peer Group (If Listed)
B)What is the Fair Value price calculated by S&P?
C)What is the 12-Month Target Price?
D)How many analysts rate the company as a “Buy”?
16.Look at the left-hand directory column and click on Register, and then answer the following questions:
A)What exchange(s) does the stock of your company trade on?
B)What is your company’s Primary NAICS (North American Industry Classification System) number?
17.Look at the left-hand directory column and click on Corporation Records, look at the firm’s capitalization and then answer the following questions:
A)How many common shares have been Authorized?
B)How many common shares are Outstanding?
C)What is the Par Value per share?
D)How much Long-Term Debt does the firm have?
18.Look at the left-hand directory column and click on Industry Surveys - PDF, and then list the date and number of pages for this document.
Hoover’s Online
Access the online Business Library through the UF Proxy Server. Click on the Business Databases link under Popular Guides(located in the lower part of the middle of the page).
Click on Hoover’s Online in the middle of the page(or click H to get you to that part of the alphabet) under All Business Databases:
1.Enter your company’s Ticker Symbol in the Search box and hit “Search”. This will take you to Search Results. Click on your company (this will take you to the Browse Company Record page), and then answer the following questions:
A)What is the company’s corporate address?
B)What is the company’s phone number?
C)What is the company’s web address?
D)Which analyst(s) covers the company for Hoovers?
E)What is the company’s D&B (Dun & Bradstreet) D-U-N-S Number?
F)What is the company’s fiscal year-end?
G)What was the company’s latest 1-year sales growth rate (%)?
H)What was the company’s latest 1-year net income growth rate (%)?
I)Who is the company’s chairperson?
J)Who is the company’s CEO?
2.Look at the left-hand directory column and click on Full Overview, then cut and paste the first paragraph of this overview.
3.Look at the left-hand directory column and click on History, then cut and paste the first paragraph of this history.
4.Look at the left-hand directory column and click on People, and then answer the following questions:
A)What is the age of the company’s CEO?
B)Click on the name of the CEO. What was the CEO’s most recent salary?
C)What was the CEO’s most recent bonus?
5.Look at the left-hand directory column and click on Products/Operations, and then answer the following questions:
A)What are the latest sales for the US ($ or %)?
B)What are the latest sales for other countries ($ or %)?
6.Look at the left-hand directory column and click on Industry, and then answer the following questions:
A)How many US SIC codes are listed for your company?
B)What is the first US SIC code listed for your company?
C)What is the Heading/Definition for this SIC Code?
7.Look at the left-hand directory column and click on Competitors, and then answer the following questions:
A)How many “Top Competitors” does Hoover’s Online list for your company?
B)What is the name of the first Top Competitor listed by Hoover’s Online for your company?
8.Look at the left-hand directory column and click on News, and then answer the following questions:
A)How many total news reports are listed for your company?
B)How many total press releases (below reports) are listed for your company?
Go To the left-hand directory column and click on Financial Data.
9.Look at the left-hand directory column and click on Income Statement, and then answer the following questions:
A)What was the company’s expense for Discontinued Operations for the most recent year?
B)What was the company’s Diluted EPS from Total Net Income for the most recent year?
C)What was the company’s Dividend per Share for the most recent year?
10.Look at the left-hand directory column and click on Historical Financials, and then answer the following questions:
A)What is the earliest year reported under Income Statement?
B)What was the company’s high and low P/E ratio for the earliest year reported under Stock History, and what year was this?
C)What was the company’s Dividend Payout rate for the most recent year reported?
11.Look at the left-hand directory column and click on Interactive Stock Chart. Use the dropdown window and choose 5 Years. Overlay the S&P 500 (Benchmark - S&P 500), and state whether your firm appears to have under-performed or out-performed the Dow Jones average over this period and then discuss the basis for your conclusion.
12.Look at the left-hand directory column and click on Market Data, and then answer the following questions:
A)What is the company’s Price/Sales Ratio?
B)What is the company’s Price/Book Ratio?
C)What is the company’s Price/Earnings Ratio?
D)What is the company’s Price/Cash Flow Ratio?
13.Look at the left-hand directory column and click on Comparison Data, and then answer the following questions:
A)What is the company’s Price/Earnings Ratio?
B)What is the industry’s Price/Earnings Ratio?
C)What is the market’s Price/Earnings Ratio?
D)How is Hoover’s Online defining the market (footnote)?
E)What is the industry’s 36-Month Dividend Growth Rate?
Thomson One Banker Analytics
Access the online Business Library through the UF Proxy Server. Click on the Business Databases link under Popular Guides(located in the lower part of the middle of the page).
Click on Thomson One Banker Analytics in the middle of the page(or click T to get you to that part of the alphabet) under All Business Databases: [Note 1: I have problems calling this database up using Firefox, but I can call it up using Internet Explorer.] [Note 2: regardless of your browser, you will probably get a window saying “This site requires browser cookies. Please enable cookies setting, then reload.” If you already have cookies enabled, then simply hit “OK”, wait a second, and then proceed.]: