Refer to Steele's financial statements in Exercise 12-76 and the information below.

At January 1, 2018, total stockholders’ equity was $2,083,122 and there was no preferred stock.

Required:
1. Compute the earnings per share, return on common equity, dividend yield ratio, and dividend payout ratio (in percentage terms, rounded to two decimal places except for EPS, which should be rounded to nearest cent) for 2018 and 2019.
2. CONCEPTUAL CONNECTION Indicate whether there were significant changes in these ratios between the years ended December 31, 2019, and December 31, 2018. Determine whether the stockholder ratios suggest that Steele was a better investment at December 31, 2019, or December 31, 2018.

Refer to exercise data 12-76,

Steele Inc.

Consolidated Income Statements

(In thousands except per share amounts)

Steele Inc.
Consolidated Balance Sheets
(In thousands)

Transcribed Image Text:

Year ended December 31, Item 2019 2018 A verage number of common shares outstanding (thousands) Preferred dividends (thousands) Dividends per common share Common dividends (thousands) Common stock repurchases Market price per share: High 362,202 24,000 0.36 130,861.00 364,398 24,000 1.54 561,172.30 83.25 79.10 63.25 Low 59.00 Close 78.42 66.36 2019 2018 2017 Net sales Cost of goods sold Gross margin General and administrative $7,245,088 (5,286,253) $ 1,958,835 $6,944,296 (4,953,556) $ 1,990,740 $ 6,149,218 (4,355,675) $ 1,793,543 (1,259,896) 2,617 $ 701,556 (63,685) 7,308 (1,202,042) (1,080,843) expenses Special and nonrecurring items Operating income Interest expense Other income Gain on sale of investments $ 788,698 (62,398) 10,080 9,117 $ 745,497 (290,000) $ 455,497 $ 712,700 (63,927) 11,529 $ 645,179 (254,000) $ 391,179 $ 660,302 (257,000) 403,302 Income before income taxes Provision for income taxes Net income