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Public or Private, Parent or Subsidiary
Your first step in analyzing a company is to determine whether it is publicly or privately-held. Many publicly-held companies are required to report certain financial information to the government and to shareholders; privately-held companies are not bound by these same requirements. So, it is generally easier to find financial information for a public company than for a private one. Once you have determined that your company is publicly-held, you need to figure out whether it is a parent or subsidiary. Financial information for subsidiaries is filed under their parent companies.
To find out whether your company is public or private, and whether it is a parent or subsidiary, use:
- LexisNexis Search on your company's name in the Company Profiles section or the Company Dossier section in the LexisNexis Business category. Information contained in the various sources can help you to determine whether or not your company is publicly-held.
Company Financial Information
Annual reports to shareholders and other U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings, such as the 10-K, are the primary way to find financial information about specific companies. Financial information for those publicly-held companies that must file with the SEC is generally available in the following databases:
- EDGAR Publicly-held companies are required to file financial information with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC's EDGAR database provides public access to all required filings, including the 10-K Report.
- LexisNexis The SEC Filings and Reports section and the Company Dossier section in the LexisNexis Business category features SEC 10-K Reports and SEC Annual Reports to Shareholders, stock reports, and other financial information.
- Mergent Online Provides advanced searching by company names, executives, Edgar/SEC filings and other criteria to create specific reports.
- Thomson Research Best known for its leading investment research, and offers the widest breadth of company research available with global filings, annual reports and market research studies.
- Valueline A "comprehensive source of information on approximately 1,700 companies in 97 industries, the stock market, and the economy."
- Yahoo! Finance This public Web site provides real time information on stock performance.
SIC/NAIC
In order to compare your company's financial ratios against those of other companies in the same industry, you need to determine the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) or the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). The primary SIC code is generally included in many of the LexisNexis Company Profiles. The SEC 10-K Report also provides this code.
- Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) This search tool is provided by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The tool lets you search by keyword. You can also browse the entire SIC Manual
- North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) This page is maintained by the U.S. Census Bureau. You can search NAICS by keyword or browse the entire manual. There is also a tool for matching NAICS with SIC.
Industry Ratios
Once you have found the SIC and NAICS codes for you company's primary industry, you can begin to compare your company's financial ratios against those of its industry competitors.
To obain copies of industry ratios for specific SIC codes, you will need to contact the OCLS Document Delivery Office at (800) 274-3838. Ask to obtain copies of industry ratios for your specific SIC code from on of the following three sources:
- RMA Annual Statement Studies Call number HF5681.B2 R6.
- Industry Norms and Key Business Ratios Call number HF5681.R25 I525x. (Also known as Dun & Bradstreet's)
- Almanac of Business and Industrial Financial Ratios Call number HF5681.R25 T68. (Also known as Troy's)
Industry Resources
- Business and Company Resource Center - CMU access only Provides access to a wide variety of global business information, enabling users to research company profiles, brand information, rankings, investment reports, company histories, chronologies, and industry news and periodicals.
- GMID--Global Market Information Database / Euromonitor International - CMU access only Business intelligence on industries, countries, and consumers.
- Economic Census Statistics on industries and business activity in geographic areas (including the nation, states, metropolitan areas, counties, and cities). Data includes number of establishments, number of employees, payroll, sales, receipts, value of shipments, value o
- MergentOnline - CMU access only "An Internet-accessible subscription service covering 10,000 public companies and their SEC filings."
- IBISWorld - CMU access only Business reports in five categories: industry market research, industry risk ratings, company research, global industry research, and economic and demographic data.
- Mintel Reports - CMU access only Market drivers, sizes and trends, market segmentation, along with consumer attitudes and purchasing habits.
- ABI/INFORM - CMU access only Articles from business magazines, management and professional publications, academic journals, trade and specialty publications, and international titles.
- Wilson Business Abstracts - CMU access only Leading English-language business periodicals.
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