Capital Structure Report


Write an analysis in which you select two publicly-traded companies within the same industry and present the DuPont analysis for each of these companies.

Objectives:

The purpose of this assignment for the student is:

  • Use information technology to complete academic writing and research.
    • Present written information in a persuasive, organized, clear, and concise manner relying on research, data, and analytics.
    • Use acceptable paragraph and sentence structure with minimum grammar, punctuation, and spelling errors; and demonstrate appropriate word choice, tone, and format.
  • Explain and calculate the costs of different capital components—debt, preferred stock, retained earnings, and common stock.
  • Calculate a bond’s yield to maturity and yield to call if it is callable, and determine the “true” yield.
  • Identify the different types of financial markets and financial institutions, and explain how these markets and institutions enhance capital allocation. 

Questions to be answered in your report:

Write a research report that outlines the topics –

  • Explain how the debt has served to influence the ROE DuPont performance results for each company you choose, and then describe how volatility plays a role in the debt choices in the context of this DuPont analysis. Explore the factors that influence the valuation of equity.
  • Consider each of the following capital structure theories: the trade-off theory, the signaling theory, the debt financing to constrain the manager’s argument, and the pecking order hypothesis.
  • Describe each of the capital structure theories, and then order them in terms of which theory you believe to be most persuasive down to which you believe to be least persuasive. Form arguments defending your rankings and reference and discuss related academic studies to support your position.

Requirements of the assignment:

  • All papers must follow all APA requirements including an abstract. 
  • All papers must have a reference page. The textbook is an acceptable source.
  • Body of the paper 5 – 6 pages.
  • Title page, abstract, and reference pages are required.  However, they do not count towards any page count.
  • Writing should reflect an understanding of the chapter’s basic concepts, thorough research, and logic and critical thinking skills.
  • The introduction is attention getting with sufficient background information to establish the topic and a clear thesis statement.
  • The conclusion summarizes the main points and leaves the reader with a strong comprehension of the paper’s significance and the author’s understanding.
  • Grammatically correct – No spelling, grammar, or mechanics errors.
  • Do not use the first person.