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***Any assistance on this is greatly appreciated! I am really struggling on figuring this out and it is due tomorrow!

As a new junior analyst for a large brokerage firm, you are anxious to demonstrate the skills you learned in college and prove that you are worth your attractive salary. Your first assignment is to analyze the stock of General Electric Corporation. Your boss recommends determining prices based on both the discounted free cash flow valuation method and the comparable P/E ratio method. You are a little concerned about your boss's recommendation because your finance professor has told you these two valuation methods can result in widely differing estimates when applied to read data. You are really hoping the two methods will reach similar prices.

1. Go to Yahoo! Finance (http://finance.yahoo.com) and enter the symbol for General Electric (GE). From the main page for GE, gather the following information and enter it into a spreadsheet:

a) The current stock price (last trade) at the top of the page.

b) The EPS (ttm).

2. Click on "Key Statistics" at the left side of the page. From the Key Statistics page, find the number of shares of stock outstanding and enter it into the spreadsheet.

3. Click on "Analyst Estimates" at the left side of the page. On the Analyst Estimates page, find the expected growth rate for the next five years and enter it into your spreadsheet. It will be near the very bottom of the page.

4. Click on "Competitors" at the left side of the page. The industry average P/E ratio is in the far right column, marked "Industry". Copy it into your spreadsheet.

5. Click on "Income Statement" near the bottom of the menu on the left. Copy and paste the entire three years' worth of income statements into a new worksheet in your existing Excel file. Repeat this process for both the balance sheet and the cash flow statement for GE. Keep all of the different statements in the same Excel worksheet.

6. To determine the stock value based on the discounted free cash flow method:

a) Forecast the free cash flows using the historic data from the financial statements downloaded from Yahoo! Finance to compute the three-year average of the following ratios:

i. EBIT/Sales

ii. Tax rate (income tax expense/income before taxes)

iii. Property, plant and equipment/sales

iv. Depreciation/property, plant, and equipment

v. Net Working Capital/Sales

b) Create an empty timeline for the next five years.

c) Forecast future sales based on the most recent year's total revenue growing at the five-year growth rate from Yahoo! Finance for the first five years.

d)Use the average ratios computed in part (a) to forecast EBIT, property, plant, and equipment, depreciation, and net working capital for the next five years.

e) Forecast the free cash flow for the next five years.

f) Determine the horizon enterprise value for year 5 and a long-run growth rate of 4% and a cost of capital for GE of 11%.

g) Determine the enterprise value of the firm as the present value of the free cash flows.

h) Determine the stock price. Note that your enterprise value is in $ thousands and the number of shares outstanding is in billions.

7. To calculate an estimate of GE's prices based on a comparable P/E ratio, mulitply the industy average P/E ratio by GE's EPS.

8. Compare the stock prices produced by the two methods to the actual stock price. What recommendations can you make as to whether clients should buy or sell GE's stock based on your price estimates?

9. Explain to your boss why the estimates from the two valuation methods differ. Specifically address the assumptions implicit in the models themselves as well as the assumptions you made in preparting your analysis. Why do these estimates differ from the actual stock price of GE?

The goal of the firm is to ____ because _____. Answer maximize shareholders' wealth; it considers all risks invest funds in real estate; the return is longer maximize shareholders' profit; it is a short term outlook closely matching management goals Mike is paying $8,000 a year on his mortgage at 6% nominal annual interest. He has 15 more years to make payments. He wants to sell his house today. The lowest [minimum] price he can sell the house without losing any money on the house would be about ___. Answer $120,000 $ 50,000 $77,698 $ 186,208 A firm's net income before tax, EBT [NIBT] (on the income statement) is affected by _____. Answer taxes interest dividends Common Stock as listed on the Balance Sheet could include which of the following? Answer A) retained earnings B) additional paid in capital over par value C) preferred capital Both A) and B) If an asset is sold for ___ than its basis, the tax effect would be ____. Answer A) more; capital gain and depreciation recapture B) less; depreciation recapture C) more; capital loss Both A) and B) The main reason for a firm to have assets is to _______. Answer generate revenue match the liabilities and equity both of the above be able to borrow money and pay its debts none of the above The only risk you would NOT have in loaning money to the United States Government (Uncle Sugar) is _____ risk. Answer liquidity maturity default A(n) ____ shows _____. Answer balance sheet; sources and uses of funds income statement; net income as of a specific date cash flow statement; how well the firm is doing relative to its competition You can compare dollars _____ because ______. Answer computed using equations; any math is always correct at any point in time; time is never a factor if they are at nominal value; that is when decisions are made only at the same point in time; dollars can be invested to earn interest There ___ a tax benefit to the company with paying preferred dividends because _______. Answer is; investors can write them off is not; investors declare them as income is; the company can use the payments as an expense is not; the company cannot use the payments as an expense XYZ issued a 6% coupon, $1,000 par, 30 year to maturity bond. It is now 6 years to maturity. What is the price of the bond if the yield to maturity [market interest rate] is 10%? Answer $1,000 $659.46 $825.79 $705.33 The valuation process can be described as ______. Answer calculating the present value of an expected future cash flow using the investor's required rate of return as the discount rate calculating the future value of an expected future cash flow using the investor's required rate of return as the discount rate amortizing the value of the asset over its holding period The ______ is the minimum required rate of return a firm must earn on its investments. Answer net present value opportunity cost of capital or weighted average cost of capital. internal rate of return gross profit margin The value of an asset is the _____ dollar price someone is willing to pay for it. Answer usual maximum minimum Companies use ____ in capital budgeting project analysis because ________. Answer accounting profit; that is the total net income after tax cash flow; that is what the owners would receive from the project and reinvest accounting profit; that is what the owners would receive from the project and reinvest after tax cash flow; that is the result of prudent accounting When borrowing money, you want to know the ____ interest rate because ____. Answer nominal; it is the easiest to find. effective; it is the true cost of borrowing risk free; that is what the government pays Fed funds; that is what you would pay the bank Cash available to pay out to the investors after the firm pays for new investments or additions to working capital is _____. Answer a statement of cash flows operating after tax cash flow free cash flow net income An organization that raises money from investors and provides financing for individuals and businesses is a ___. Answer factor federal government regulatory unit state government taxing authority financial intermediary Negatives/cons of the Net Present Value (NPV) technique include: Answer least conservative reinvestment assumption multiple rates of return for non-conventional cash flows all of the above none of the above A fixed exchange rate means a country _____. Answer can only use gold coins as money is limited in the amount of paper money it can print can print money as the economy demands Your company is considering an investment with the following expected cash flows: Initial Investment = $407,596 Operating Cash Flows = $73,428 per year Terminal Cash Flow = $11,872. The company's WACC is 11% for similar risk projects. The proposed project would have an expected life of 9 years. Your boss asks you to do the analysis. You would tell your boss this proposed project ___ because ____. Answer is acceptable; NPV is about $3,620 is acceptable; NPV is zero should be rejected; NPV is about -$5,660 [negative $5,660]. should be rejected; NPV is zero All ratios are ___ and a reason to analyze ratios is ____. Answer good; to continue to look productive good and bad; because seemingly good ratios can be masking something bad bad; to try to rework the numbers to have them look good basically irrelevant; there really is no need to analyze financial statements When analyzing financial statements, ratio analysis gives ____ and provides insight into ____. Answer very little useful information; practically nothing good practice in logical thinking; what has occurred and the logic behind it financiers something to do during slow periods; how the financier spends his time accountants a reason to provide financial statements; why accountants do what they do while at work Given: Economic State[i]: Good Average Expected Return[i]: 10% 8% Probability[i]: 30% 70% What is the Standard Deviation? Answer 3% 8.4% 0.92% 5.6% Chapter 9: XYZ has a projected project to install a new press. The expected cash revenue is $175,000 per year. Expected yearly expenses are: Operatinf costs of $50,000; Rental of $17,000; Utilities of $20,500; and Depreciation of $10,000. The tax rate is 35%. What is the expected After-Tax Operating Cash Flow for the first year? Answer $65,500 $60,375 $77,500 $97,500 A stock just paid a dividend of $1.60 per year. The dividend is expected to grow at 3% per year indefinately. Equally risky stocks offer expected rates of return of 8%. What should be the stock price? Answer 53.33 $16.00 $32.96 None of the above. A plot of the CAPM is the _____. Answer wrong thing to do Security Market Line a function showing how to calculate TVM All of the above. Derivatives are used to ___. Answer divide one number by another find old ways to do things hedge risk none of the above With the end of the Gold Standard in the 1970's, what new risk did business face in the international market? Answer Comjpetition Exchange rate Worker compensation Property taxes One of the positive aspects [pros] of a Floating Exchange Rate System is ____. Answer money can be printed as needed to support financial/economic growth no/reduced inflation economic growth is reduced as a result of reduced liquidity [lower money supply] business planning is more difficult A(n) ____ contract obligates the seller to execute the contract and the contract is executed. Answer backwards forward future option What policies did countries institute after the Great War that help lead to the Great Depression? Answer A. Mandatory military service B. Trade restrictions C. High tariffs D. Isolationism Only B., C. and D. All of the above