Columns 1 & 2: 52-Week High and Low - These are the highest and lowest prices at which a stock has traded over the previous 52 weeks (one year). This typically does not include the previous day's trading.
Column 3: Company Name & Type of Stock - This column lists the name of the company. If there are no special symbols or letters following the name, it is common stock. Different symbols imply different classes of shares. For example, "pf" means the shares are preferred stock.
Column 4: Ticker Symbol - This is the unique alphabetic name which identifies the stock. If you watch financial TV, you have seen the ticker tape move across the screen, quoting the latest prices alongside this symbol. If you are looking for stock quotes online, you always search for a company by the ticker symbol. If you don't know what a particular company's ticker is you can search for it at: http://finance.yahoo.com/l.
Column 5: Dividend Per Share - This indicates the annual dividend payment per share. If this space is blank, the company does not currently pay out dividends.
Column 6: Dividend Yield - The percentage return on the dividend. Calculated as annual dividends per share divided by price per share.
Column 7: Price/Earnings Ratio - shows how much investors are willing to pay for $1 of a company's earnings. The long-term average P/E is around 15, meaning most investors are willing to pay $15 for every dollar of earnings. A higher P/E often means investors are expecting future growth; a lower P/E means a stock that is already providing a sound investment
Column 8: Trading Volume - This figure shows the total number of shares traded for the day, listed in hundreds. To get the actual number traded, add "00" to the end of the number listed.
Column 9 & 10: Day High and Low - This indicates the price range at which the stock has traded at throughout the day. In other words, these are the maximum and the minimum prices that people have paid for the stock.
Column 11: Close - The close is the last trading price recorded when the market closed on the day. If the closing price is up or down more than 5% than the previous day's close, the entire listing for that stock is bold-faced. Keep in mind, you are not guaranteed to get this price if you buy the stock the next day because the price is constantly changing (even after the exchange is closed for the day). The close is merely an indicator of past performance and except in extreme circumstances serves as a ballpark of what you should expect to pay.
Column 12: Net Change - This is the dollar value change in the stock price from the previous day's closing price. When you hear about a stock being "up for the day," it means the net change was positive.
Directions: Answer the questions below based on the chart.
1. Is Revlon doing better or worse than yesterday? How do you know? What might explain it?
2. Is Rite Aid nearer to its yearly high or low? Would this be a good time to purchase the stock? Explain.
3. What are the stock ticker symbols for Revlon and Rite Aid? Are you surprised? Explain.
4. Did either Revlon or Rite Aid pay a dividend? What does that suggest about the company?
5. What is a P/E ratio?
6. Which two pieces of information shown on this stock chart would you consider most important for people to find out before purchasing the stock of a company? Explain.
7. Would the same information be the most important information for people who already own
stock in these companies? Explain.
8. What would you guess was the general trend of the market on this particular day? Explain
what information led you to this conclusion.
9. From this table can you tell the type of business that Revlon or Rite Aid conduct? Explain
how this information can be accessed.
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