Research a U.S. Company: Selected Resources

Company overviews and directory information

• Business Source Premier. (UST subscription database)
  See especially the Datamonitor Company Profiles. This often includes a SWOT analysis for the company.
• Mergent Online. (UST subscription database)
  Company information, company history, and SEC filings.
• Business and Company Resource Center. (UST subscription database)
  Company profiles with links to related articles and investment reports.
• Lexis-Nexis Business. (UST subscription database)
  Extensive, current data on 13 million companies. Includes Hoover's Company Records and Experian Credit Reports (Choose Company Profiles, then select ources: Experian Business Reports, Hoover's Company Records, etc.  Enter company name and search; also see this quick video for choosing these sources in Lexis-Nexis Business.)
• Standard & Poor's Stock Reports. (UST subscription database)
  Earnings, balance sheet data, and outlooks for companies that are traded on the three major stock exchanges.
• Factiva. (UST subscription database)
  Company profiles, financials, and articles.  Choose the Companies/Markets tab, then choose Company.
• Reference USA. (UST subscription database)
  Information on over 14 million U.S. public and private companies, including contact information, estimated financials for private companies, and more.
• Yahoo Finance Company Profiles.
• Hoover's Handbook of American Business.  Ref. HG 4057 .A28617
• International Directory of Company Histories. (UST subscription database)
  History and development of the world's most influential companies. 
• Ward's Business Directory of U.S. Private and Public Companies. (UST subscription database)
  Covers more than 112,000 U.S. companies, 90% of which are private. To search the Ward's Business Directory exclusively, select Ward's from the pull-down menu.

Private company information

• Ward's Business Directory of U.S. Private and Public Companies. (UST subscription database)
  Select Ward's from the pull-down menu. 
• Reference USA.  (UST subscription database).
  Information on over 14 million U.S. public and private companies, including contact information, estimated financials for private companies, and more.  View this short video for a demonstration of how to access private company data, including how to access a corporation's corporate tree for information on subsidiaries. 
• Lexis-Nexis Business.  (UST subscription database)
  Choose Company Profiles, then select the source "US Private Company Reports" within sources.  Experian Business Reports and Hoover's Company Records are particularly useful.  Also see this quick video for choosing these sources within Lexis-Nexis Business.) 
• Business and Company Resource Center. (UST subscription database)
  Includes information on larger private companies.
• Factiva.  (UST subscription database)
  Choose the Companies/Markets tab, then choose Company.
• Hoover's Handbook of Private Companies.  Ref. HG 4057 .A28616

For subsidiaries, branches, or divisions, try Lexis-Nexis Business or Business and Company Resource Center (under the parent company or subsidiary name.)  For foreign-owned companies, start with Mergent Online, Kompass, or Factiva.

Financial data, SEC filings, and historical stock quotes

• Locating Annual Reports.  (UST guide)
• Mergent Online.  (UST subscription database)
  Company information and SEC filings.  After searching for a company, choose the Company Financials tab.  Also use the EDGAR Search for finding SEC filings including proxy forms (14-A), annual and quarterly reports (10-K & 10-Q), insider trading forms (forms 3, 4, 5), and more.
• Factiva.  (UST subscription database)
  Company profiles, financials, and articles.  Choose the Companies/Markets tab, then Company, and search; on your company's page choose Financial Results. For historical stock quotes, choose the Companies/Markets tab, select the radio button for "Historical Quotes," select the desired date range, and search.  
• Lexis-Nexis Business. (UST subscription database)
  Search individual companies, or choose SEC Filings from the left-hand margin. 
• SEC Filings via EDGAR.
  EDGAR is the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's filings database.
• Business Filings Databases.
  Links to corporate and business filings from all 50 states.
• Yahoo Finance Stock Research Center.
  Select "historical quotes" under Research Tools, then search for company and date range.
• New York Times Historical. (UST subscription database)
  Enter the name of the exchange (NYSE, ASE, Nasdaq, etc.); set the date for the day after your desired market date; under More Search Options -> Document type, select Stock quote, and search.

Competitor information

• Finding NAICS or SIC Codes for a Company.  (UST guide)
• Standard & Poor's Stock Reports.  (UST subscription database)
  Search by company name or ticker.  Links to competitor lists are on the left-hand side.
• Factiva.  (UST subscription database)
  Choose the Companies/Markets tab, then Company, and search. The nearest 10 competitors (by sales) are at the bottom, under Peer Group.  For more competitors, choose Reports, and then choose Detailed Company Profile Report.
• Value Line.  (UST subscription database.)
  Choose the Plus Edition, choose Look Up Industry, and browse the appropriate industry.
• Mergent Online.  (UST subscription database)
  Look up your company, and then choose the Competitors tab. For competitors by industry, search by SIC code or NAICS code.
• Yahoo Finance Company Profiles. (from Market Guide)
• Reference USA.  (UST subscription database)
  Directory information for public and private companies. Search by SIC code, NAICS code, or company business description.

Company analysis

• Investment Reports through Business & Company Resource Center.  (UST subscription database)
  Search for a company, then choose the Investment Reports tab. Investment reports from Reuters Research on Demand.
• Value Line.  (UST subscription database)
  Reports on leading companies in over 90 industries. Older issues (back to 1984) are on microfiche.
• Standard & Poor's Stock Reports.  (UST subscription database)
  Search by company name or ticker.  Earnings, balance sheet data, and outlooks for companies that are traded on the three major stock exchanges. The Industry Surveys have a section on how to analyze a company within that industry.
• Mergent Equity Research Reports. (UST subscription database)
  Summary data, analysis, and recommendations from Mergent and Ford Equity Research analysts. Select Equity Reports tab, search for the company, and select the pdf icon on the right side of the screen.  Also see this short video for a demonstration of how to access more company profile information from Mergent.
• Lexis-Nexis Business.  (UST subscription database)
  Do a search on a company, then choose Financial Information from the left-hand menu. Scroll down to the Research & Analyst Reports section. Includes reports from Nelson's.

Company news and in-depth journal articles

• Business Source Premier.  (UST subscription database)
  Full-text articles and abstracts from management, marketing, non-profit and business journals.  
• Business and Company Resource Center.  (UST subscription database)
  Full-text articles, profiles, investment reports on public and some private companies.
• Factiva. (UST subscription database)
  Company profiles, financials, and articles. Full-text access to hundreds of newspapers and journals in all topic areas.  
• Lexis-Nexis.  (UST subscription database)
  Detailed, full-text periodical articles; sources include the Star Tribune.
• St. Paul Pioneer Press Archives. (UST subscription database)
  Searchable news library back to 1988.  Does not include current week's articles; those are available from the St. Paul Pioneer Press.)

Beta

• Factiva.  (UST subscription database)
  Company profiles, financials, and articles.  Choose the Companies/Markets tab, choose Company, and search for your company. Look under Reports for a Ratio Comparison Report, which includes the beta for the company and its industry.
• Standard & Poor's Stock Reports.  (UST subscription database)
  Do a Publication Search on Stock Reports. The beta is under Key Stock Statistics on the first page.
• Value Line.  (UST subscription database)
  Choose the Plus Edition, and choose Look Up Company.  The beta is in the upper left-hand corner of the pdf report, and near the top of the html version.
• Yahoo Finance.
  Look up a company, then choose Key Statistics.

Company rankings

• Price's List of Lists.
  Look under the subject (Retail Trade, etc.) for links.
• Forbes Lists. (Including the Forbes 400 Best Big Companies and Forbes Largest Private Companies)
• Fortune 500. (Each year in the April issue of Fortune, aka the "Largest U.S. Corporations.")
• Business Week's Information Technology 100. (Each year in the July or June issue of Business Week, aka the "InfoTech 100.") 
• Deloitte Technology Fast 500. (Fastest growing technology companies)
• Inc. 500 Fastest Growing Private Companies.
• IndustryWeek's IW 1000.  An annual list of the largest publicly traded manufacturing companies by revenue
• Star Tribune 100.
  Ranking of top Minnesota companies, updated each year in April. 
• Washington Post 200.
  Includes the largest public companies, private companies, and financial institutions in the D.C., Maryland, and Virginia area. 
• Web 100.
  "The Web's best sites."

Research consultations

Professional reference service is available at both the St. Paul and Minneapolis campus libraries. If you are interested in a research consultation, contact:

Ryan Carter, Minneapolis, (651) 962-4646, cart1589@stthomas.edu
Marianne Hageman, St. Paul, (651) 962-5404, mdhageman@stthomas.edu
Eric Kallas, St. Paul, (651) 962-5013, epkallas@stthomas.edu
Andrea Koeppe, Minneapolis, (651) 962-4647, arhudson@stthomas.edu
Janice Kragness, Minneapolis, (651) 962-4645, jlkragness@stthomas.edu

Updated July 2009 mdh