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Swan Davis Inc

Decent Essays

Case 72 Swan-Davis, Inc. Bond and Stock Valuation Swan-Davis, Inc. (SDI) manufactures equipment for sale to large contractors. The company was founded in 1976 by Tom Stone, the current chairman, and it went public in 1980 at $1 per share. The stock currently sells for $15, Stone owns 14 percent of the shares, and other officers and directors control another 13 percent. The industry is cyclical, and competition is strong, so profits are some-what unstable. Tables 1, 2, and 3 provide historical balance sheets, income statements, and ratios for the company for the period 1994–1996, Table 4 provides industry average data for 1994-1996, and Table 5 provides one security analyst’s forecasted data for the company based on assumptions …show more content…

It is agreed that in your explanation you will assume that corporations have a state-plus-federal income tax rate of 40 percent, and you will use the top personal tax rate of 39.6 percent.

c. SDI’s officers have been under pressure from the board of directors to do something to improve the price of the common stock. Management is also concerned about the stock price personally because bonuses are based on the performance of SDI’s stock price relative to other firms in its industry. So, they would like a detailed explanation of how the market price is determined—what do investors look for, and what can management do to provide what investors want? Bob Wilkes also wants you to explain how stock valuation information be used to help estimate the company’s cost of equity. Tony Biddle provided some information that can be used in the stock valuation process. First, as background on what investors think about the company, here are some representative quotations taken from analysts’ reports issued during the past few years. August 1992. Ed Thompson, Smyth Farley’s construction analyst: “SDI’s investment in new facilities is paying off in lower costs and higher volumes, and its R&D and marketing programs are paying off in increased sales. Management is confident that sales and earnings will set new records this year, and the CFO regards an earnings growth

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