Cracker Barrel Case Study

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Market Value Price/Earnings Ratio Cracker Barrel has experienced a constant increase in its price/earnings ratio, with only one decrease in 2011, the only year to suffer a decrease in the company’s market price. This ratio indicates that investors were willing to pay an average of $14 for each $1 of earnings during the five year period. In 2013, the price/earnings ratio significantly increased as the market price at the year-end almost doubled. During the five year period, Cracker Barrel has been able to increase the confidence investors have in the company’s future performance. However, Bob Evans considerably exceeds Cracker Barrel’s price/earnings ratio. Investors are willing to pay $35.89 for each $1 of earnings, which demonstrates that …show more content…

Therefore, the projections for Cracker Barrel future financial performance were calculated taking into account the average percentage of change each of these items have experienced over the last five years, and adding such percentage to the company’s results for 2014. Sales will continue to increase as the company continues to experience high guess traffic and market reach. Operating expenses will also continue to increase because they are highly influenced by the price and availability of food, ingredients, retail merchandise and utilities, which are expected to increase in the following year. Also, the company will be able to increase its current assets as more stores will likely be opened in 2015, which may require some investment but which would influence the continuous growth in sales. Even though current liabilities may increase due to short-term investment to finance daily operations, interest expense and long-term debt will continue to decrease as the company remains focused on its plan to reduce its

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