Lowe’s Companies Inc., a major competitor of The Home Depot in the home improvement business, operates over 1,700 stores. Lowe’s recently reported the following balance sheet data (in millions):

a. Determine the total stockholders’ equity at the end of Years 2 and 1.
b. Determine the ratio of liabilities to stockholders’ equity for Year 2 and Year 1. Round to two decimal places.
c. What conclusions regarding the risk to the creditors can you draw from (b)?
d. Using the balance sheet data for The Home Depot in Exercise 1-26, how does the ratio of liabilities to stockholders’ equity of Lowe’s compare to that of The Home Depot?

Balance Sheet From Exercise 1-26:

The Home Depot, Inc., is the world’s largest home improvement retailer and one of the largest retailers in the United States based on net sales volume. The Home Depot operates over 2,200 Home Depot® stores that sell a wide assortment of building materials and home improvement and lawn and garden products.

The Home Depot recently reported the following balance sheet data (in millions):