FINANCIAL RESEARCH REPORT

Financial Research Report

Overview

Imagine that you are a financial manager researching investments for your client. Think of a friend or a family member as a client. Define their characteristics and goals such as an employee or employer, relatively young (less than 40 years) or close to retirement, having some savings/property, a risk taker or risk averter, etc. Next, use Nexis Uni at the Strayer University library, located at Nexis Uni, click on “Company Dossier” to research the stock of any U.S. publicly traded company that you may consider as an investment opportunity for your client. Your investment should align with your client’s investment goals. Note: Please ensure that you are able to find enough information about this company in order to complete this assignment. You will create an appendix, in which you will insert related information.

Instructions

This final financial research report will be 6–8 pages long, including an edited version of the first part of your assignment submitted in Week 7. This assignment requires you to use at least five quality academic resources and cover the following topics:

• Rationale for choosing the company in which to invest.


• Ratio analysis.


• Stock price analysis.


• Recommendations.

Refer to the following resources to assist with completing your assignment:

Stock Selection

• Forbes: Six Rules to Follow When Picking Stocks.


• CNN Money: Stocks: Investing in Stocks.


• The Motley Fool: 13 Steps to Investing Foolishly.


• Seeking Alpha: The Graham And Dodd Method for Valuing Stocks.


• Investopedia: Guide to Stock-Picking Strategies.


• Seeking Alpha: Get Your Smart Beta Here! Dividend Growth Stocks as ‘Strategic Beta’ Investments.

Market and Company Information

• U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission: Market Structure.


• Yahoo! Finance.


• Mergent Online (Note: This resource is also available through the Strayer Learning Resource Center.)


• Seeking Alpha (Note: This is also available through the Android or iTunes App store.)


• Morningstar (Note: You can create a no-cost Basic Access account.)


• Research Hub, located in the left menu of your course in Blackboard.

This assignment will be 6–8 pages including points 1 and 2 from Part 1 completed in Week 7.

1. Include your rationale, primary reasons for stock selection, and client’s profile from Part 1, making any revisions based upon Part 1 feedback if applicable.


2. Select any five financial ratios that you have learned about in the text. Analyze the past 3 years of the selected financial ratios for the company; you may obtain this information from the company’s financial statements. Determine the company’s financial health. (Note: Suggested ratios include, but are not limited to, current ratio, quick ratio, earnings per share, and price earnings ratio.)


3. Based on your financial review, determine the risk level of the stock from your investor’s point of view. Indicate key strategies that you may use in order to minimize these perceived risks.


4. Provide your recommendations of this stock as an investment opportunity. Support your rationale with resources, such as peer-reviewed articles, material from the Strayer University Library, and reviews by market analysts.


5. Conduct a literature review and list at least five quality academic resources. Note: Wikipedia and other similar websites do not qualify as academic resources.

This course requires the use of Strayer Writing Standards. For assistance and information, please refer to the Strayer Writing Standards link in the left-hand menu of your course. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.

The specific course learning outcome associated with this assignment is as follows:

• Create investment recommendations based on research that includes the rationale and risk mitigation for the chosen strategies.