Harry Wong
302857273
Econ 101
Chapter 20c.
20.c. How To Read Stock Tables
Stock tables like the one shown in Figure 20C.1 can be found in almost all newspapers and will have
similar information on the companies. Stock tables show a few but important facts about a company that
tell a lot to investors.
Figure 20C.1
YTD 52 WEEK 52 WEEK
% CHG
HI
LO
STOCK (SYM)
-25.5
17.65
7.52 ABC Co ABC
-26.3
29.75
16.39 End Engy ENE
52.3
36.9
19.44 Loan Co LOAN
-18.2
34.81
18.93 Stonevsion STN
5.1
16.5
12.07 XYZ Co XYZ
DIV
0.48
YLD
%
…
…
…
…
3.4
PE
dd
40
39
17
14
VOL
100s
201
2355
99
712
130
CLOSE
7.45
18.8
36.5
23.21
14.03
1. Year-to- Date Change: Price change since January 1 or initial offering of stock.
2. 52 week high: The highest price that the stock has traded at over the previous 52 weeks or a
year. The 52 weeks are adjusted daily to cover the proceeding 52-week period.
3. 52 week low: The lowest price this stock has traded at over the previous 52 weeks or a
year. The 52 weeks are adjusted daily to cover the proceeding 52-week period.
4. Stock: This is the name of the company of the stock. Occasionally symbols are written after the
name. Common ones include pf, which means the stock is preferred. There is always a
legend to explain what each symbol means.
5. Symbol: This is the ticker symbol used to identify stocks. Ticker tapes on television or the
Internet will often show the ticker symbol instead of the whole name.
6. Dividends per share: Dividends are distributions that a company gives to its shareholders.
Distributions may be in cash, additional stock, stock rights, or property. This column
shows whether a company has given out a dividend this year. If there is a number here, it
is the annual dividend payment per share of stock. If there is nothing in the spot the
company has not offered any dividends.
7. Dividend Yield: Dividend Yield is the percentage return on the dividend. It can be calculated as
follows: Annual Dividends per share/ Price per share
NET
CHG
-1.35
0.26
1.03
-0.99
-0.36
Harry Wong
302857273
Econ 101
Chapter 20c.
8. PE or Price Earnings Ratio: This ratio tells how many times the stock price is selling for.
PE ratio: Share price divided by earnings per share from the last 4 quarters.
Earnings per share: this tells how much each share of common stock would receive in
dividends were we to distribute a dividend equal to the company’s net income.
9. Volume: This shows how many shares of this stock were traded this day in the hundreds.
10. Close: The close is the closing price of the stock for the day. The listing will be in bold if the
Price changes more than 5 % from a previous day.
11. Net Change: This is the change in price from the previous day’s closing price.
Quiz
1.
What price did End Energy close at yesterday?
Answer: 18.54
End Energy closed at 18.8 today and the net change was 0.26, therefore the price it closed at yesterday
must be 18.8-0.26= 18.54
2.
What price was Loan Co at the very beginning of the year?
Answer: 23.97
We know the current price is 36.5 and that since the beginning of the year it has risen 52.3%.
Therefore, the calculation is as follows:
Unknown Price at Beginning of year x % Change = Current price
Unknown Price at Beginning of year x 152.3% = 36.5
3.
Why is ABC Co in bold?
Answer: Stock listings are in bold if the price of the stock changes more than 5% (positive or
negative) from a previous day.
4.
If you owned 20 shares in XYZ Co, how much would you earn assuming they paid you in cash?
Answer: XYZ Company is paying dividends in amounts of 48 cents per share. If you have 20 shares
then you will receive $9.60 in dividends. (20 x .48= 9.6)
5.
What is the Earnings per share of Stone vision?
Answer: 1.36= EPS
Harry Wong
302857273
Econ 101
Chapter 20c.
Since we know the PE ratio of Stone Vision is 17 and stock price is 23.21 then we can derive EPS
with the formula PE=Market Price/ EPS
Calculation: 17=23.21/EPS
6.
What is the dividend yield for XYZ Co?
Answer: .034 or 34% The equation for dividend yield is Dividend Price/ Stock price, therefore
Since the listing shows dividend price is .48 and stock price is 14.03 then we know .48/14.03= .034
Or alternatively we can just look at the YLD % column for 3.4%.
7.
What is the annual dividend per share for XYZ Co?
Answer: 0.48; Look at the column that gives annual dividend per share, it says 0.48.
8.
What is the market price of End Energy, given EPS 0.47?
Answer: $18.8
Recall that the formula for calculating PE ratios is Market Price /EPS, so 40= Market Price/ 0.47 gives
a market price of 18.8.
9.
How much in dividends were given per share if the dividends yield for XYZ Co is 3.4 and the price of
the stock is 14.03?
Answer: 0.48
Since Dividends Yield = Dividend Per share/ Stock Price we know that
3.4 = Dividends per share/14.03; solve for Dividends per share
10. Which stock has had the most gains this year percentage wise?
Answer: Loan Co since its YTD % Change is greatest at 52.3 %
11. If on Jan 1, you wanted stock but you wanted to buy the stock with the lowest price, which one of the
Stocks would you choose?
Answer: ABC Co. @ $9.35 Compute the prices of the stocks on Jan 1:
ABC Co= 7.45 x 125.5%=9.35
End Energy=18.8 x 126.3%= 23.74
Loan Co=36.5/152.3%=23.97
Stone Vision= 23.21 x 118.2%=27.43
XYZ Co= 14.03/105.14%=13.34