Analyzing the Dividend Policies of Various Companies

Please recall Starbucks that you selected for the Module 1 SLP. Please review Starbucks's dividends over the past three years. Then, answer the following questions in Word (except for the Excel portion specifically noted):

What has occurred with Starbucks' dividend payout, dividend yield, and dividend per share over the past three years? Do you have any explanations for what has occurred?

How does Starbucks' dividend payout, dividend yield, and dividend per share compare to other companies in its industry? Has Starbucks's dividend strategy been similar to other companies in its industry?

You are now to use Excel and plot your selected Starbucks' earnings and dividends over the past three years. Do you notice any patterns?

What is your estimate for your Starbucks' dividend per share next year? Please justify why you made that decision.

Now locate a company that has reduced or eliminated its common stock cash dividend over the past year. Why did Starbucks reduce or eliminate its dividend? What has happened to Starbucks's stock price over the year?

SLP Assignment Expectations

You are expected to:

• Describe the purpose of the report and provide a conclusion. An introduction and a conclusion are important because many busy individuals in the business environment may only read the first and the last paragraph. If those paragraphs are not interesting, they never read the body of the paper.

• Answer the SLP Assignment question(s) clearly and provide necessary details.

• Write clearly and correctly-that is, no poor sentence structure, no spelling and grammar mistakes, and no run-on sentences.

• Provide citations to support your argument and references on a separate page. (All the sources that you listed in the references section must be cited in the paper.) Use APA format to provide citations and references.

• Type and double-space the paper.

Whenever appropriate, please use Excel to show supporting computations in an appendix, present financial information in tables, and use the data computed to answer follow-up questions. In finance, in addition to being able to write well, it's important to present information in a professional manner and to analyze financial information. This is part of the assignment expectations and will be considered for grading purposes.