Finance 121
It is appropriate to use the fixed assets turnover ratio to appraise firms' effectiveness in managing their fixed assets if and only if all the firms being compared have the same proportion of fixed assets to total assets.
False
Determining whether a firm's financial position is improving or deteriorating requires analyzing more than the ratios for a given year. Trend analysis is one method of examining changes in a firm's performance over time.
True
If a firm sold some inventory on credit, its current ratio would probably not change much, but its quick ratio would increase.
True
If a firm's fixed assets turnover ratio is significantly higher than its industry average, this could indicate that it uses its fixed assets very efficiently or is operating at over capacity and should probably add fixed assets.
True
Market value ratios provide management with an indication of how investors view the firm's past performance and especially its future prospects.
True
Other things held constant, the more debt a firm uses, the lower its profit margin will be.
True
Other things held constant, the more debt a firm uses, the lower its return on total assets will be.
True
Profitability ratios show the combined effects of liquidity, asset management, and debt management on a firm's operating results.
True
Ratio analysis involves analyzing financial statements to help appraise a firm's financial position and strength
True
Significant variations in accounting methods among firms make meaningful ratio comparisons between firms more difficult than if all firms used the same or similar accounting methods.
True
The "apparent," but not necessarily the "true," financial position of a company whose sales are seasonal can change dramatically during a given year, depending on the time of year when the financial statements are constructed.
True
The advantage of the basic earning power ratio (BEP) over the return on total assets for judging a company's operating efficiency is that the BEP does not reflect the effects of debt and taxes.
True
The current and inventory turnover ratios both help us measure a firm's liquidity. The current ratio measures the relationship of the firm's current assets to its current liabilities, while the inventory turnover ratio gives us an indication of how long it takes the firm to convert its inventory into cash.
True
A decline in a firm's inventory turnover ratio suggests that it is improving both its inventory management and its liquidity position, i.e., that it is becoming more liquid.
False
In general, if investors regard a company as being relatively risky and/or having relatively poor growth prospects, then it will have relatively high P/E and M/B ratios.
False
If a firm sold some inventory for cash and left the funds in its bank account, its current ratio would probably not change much, but its quick ratio would decline.
False
If a firm sold some inventory on credit as opposed to cash, there is no reason to think that either its current or quick ratio would change.
False
In general, it's better to have a low inventory turnover ratio than a high one, as a low ratio indicates that the firm has an adequate stock of inventory relative to sales and thus will not lose sales as a result of running out of stock.
False
High current and quick ratios always indicate that the firm is managing its liquidity position well.
False
Other things held constant, a decline in sales accompanied by an increase in financial leverage must result in a lower profit margin.
False
Other things held constant, the higher a firm's debt ratio, the higher its TIE ratio will be.
False
Other things held constant, the more debt a firm uses, the lower its operating margin will be.
False
Since the ROA measures the firm's effective utilization of assets without considering how these assets are financed, two firms with the same EBIT must have the same ROA.
False
Suppose you are analyzing two firms in the same industry. Firm A has a profit margin of 10% versus a margin of 8% for Firm B. Firm A's debt ratio is 70% versus one of 20% for Firm B. Based only on these two facts, you cannot reach a conclusion as to which firm is better managed, because the difference in debt, not better management, could be the cause of Firm A's higher profit margin.
False
The basic earning power ratio (BEP) reflects the earning power of a firm's assets after giving consideration to financial leverage and tax effects.
False
The more conservative a firm's management is, the higher its debt ratio is likely to be.
False
The operating margin measures operating income per dollar of assets.
False
The return on common equity (ROE) is generally regarded as being less significant, from a stockholder's viewpoint, than the return on total assets (ROA).
False
Debt management ratios show the extent to which a firm's managers are attempting to magnify returns on owners' capital through the use of financial leverage.
True
Although a full liquidity analysis requires the use of a cash budget, the current and quick ratios provide fast and easy-to-use estimates of a firm's liquidity position.
True
The days sales outstanding tells us how long it takes, on average, to collect after a sale is made. The DSO can be compared with the firm's credit terms to get an idea of whether customers are paying on time.
True
The inventory turnover and current ratio are related. The combination of a high current ratio and a low inventory turnover ratio, relative to industry norms, suggests that the firm has an above-average inventory level and/or that part of the inventory is obsolete or damaged.
True
The inventory turnover ratio and days sales outstanding (DSO) are two ratios that are used to assess how effectively a firm is managing its current assets.
True
The market/book (M/B) ratio tells us how much investors are willing to pay for a dollar of accounting book value. In general, investors regard companies with higher M/B ratios as being less risky and/or more likely to enjoy higher growth in the future.
True
The price/earnings (P/E) ratio tells us how much investors are willing to pay for a dollar of current earnings. In general, investors regard companies with higher P/E ratios as being less risky and/or more likely to enjoy higher growth in the future.
True
The profit margin measures net income per dollar of sales.
True
The times-interest-earned ratio is one, but not the only, indication of a firm's ability to meet its long-term and short-term debt obligations.
True