1. The number of issued shares is shown in the first column of the statement of stockholders’ equity. Had Lowe’s issued more or fewer shares of common stock than The Home Depot at the end of Fiscal 2016?

2. From the Retained Earnings column in the statement of stockholders’ equity, what total amount of cash dividends did Lowe’s declare during Fiscal 2016? Compared to The Home Depot, is Lowe’s policy on dividends better, worse, or just different?

3. Have Lowe’s net earnings been steadily increasing, steadily decreasing, or both decreasing and increasing over the past three years? Has the company’s basic earnings per share exhibited the same changes over the past three years? How can you explain the seemingly different patterns in these two measures?

Refer to the financial statements of The Home Depot in Appendix A and Lowe’s in Appendix B at the end of this book. (Note: Fiscal 2016 for The Home Depot runs from February 1, 2016, to January 29, 2017. Fiscal 2016 for Lowe’s runs from January 30, 2016, to February 3, 2017.)