Financial Research Report Assignment 1

Imagine that you are a financial manager researching investments for your client that align with its investment goals. Use the Internet or the Strayer Library to research any U.S. publicly traded company that you may consider as an investment opportunity for your client. (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.)

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: Also available through the Android or iTunes App store.)
•Morningstar (Note: You can create a no-cost Basic Access account.)

1.Provide a rationale for the U.S. publicly traded company that you selected, indicating the significant factors driving your decision as a financial manager.

2.Determine the profile of the investor for which this company may be a fit, relative to that potential investor’s investment strategy. Provide support for your rationale.

3.Select any six (6) financial ratios. Analyze the past three (3) years of the company’s financial data, which you may obtain 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.)

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

5.Provide your recommendations of this stock as an investment opportunity. Support your rationale with resources, such as peer-reviewed articles or material from above suggestions.

6.Use at least seven (7) quality academic resources in this assignment. Note: Wikipedia and other Websites do not qualify as academic resources.

Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:
•Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA format.
•Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.

By admin in Essays on October 5, 2015