Chapter 14, Problem 1WM

Go to finance.yahoo.com to find information about Vulcan Materials Company (VMC). Southwest Airlines (LUV). Honda Motor Company (HMC), Nordstrom). Inc. (JWN), and Abbott Laboratories (ABT). Download the most recent income statement and balance sheet for each company.
a. Calculate the Operating profit margin (operating profit/sales) and the asset turnover (sales/assets) for each firm.
b. Calculate the return on assets directly (RDA = Operating profit/Total assets). and then confirm it by calculating RDA = Operating margin × Asset turnover.
c. In what industries do these firms operate? Do the ratios make sense when you consider the industry types?
d. For the firms that have relatively low ROAs, does the source of the problem seem to the operating profit margin, the asset turnover, or both?
e. Calculate the return on equity (ROE = Net income/Equity) for each firm. For the two firms with the lowest ROEs. perform a DuPont analysis to isolate the source(s) of the problem.