The University of St. Thomas

Research a U.S. company

Research a U.S. Company: Selected Resources

Company overviews and directory information
  • Business and Company Resource Center. (UST subscription database)
    Company profiles with links to related articles and investment reports.
  • Mergent Online. (UST subscription database)
    Company information, company history, and SEC filings.
  • Lexis-Nexis Business. (UST subscription database)
    Extensive, current data on 13 million companies. Includes Hoover's Company Records.
  • 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.
  • Business Source Premier. (UST subscription database)
    Choose the Company Profiles link to search Datamonitor Company Profiles. This often includes a SWOT analysis for the company.
  • Reference USA. (UST subscription database)
    Directory information for 14 million U.S. public and private companies.
  • 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, choose the Advanced Search tab and select Ward's from the pull-down menu.

Private company information

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.
  • Factiva.  (UST subscription database)
    Company profiles, financials, and articles.  Choose the Companies/Markets tab, then Company, and search; under Additional Company Links on your company's page choose Financial Information for SEC Filings. For historical stock quotes, search Companies/Markets, 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 SIC or NAICS 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 top 10 competitors 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. (Also paper copies at Keffer and OSF)
  • 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

  • Investext Plus Investment Reports.  (UST subscription database)
    Covers more than 11,000 U.S. and international companies and 53 industries.
  • Value Line.  (UST subscription database)
    Reports on leading companies in over 90 industries. Older issues (back to 1984) are on microfiche. Also paper copies at Keffer and OSF Libraries.
  • 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.
  • 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

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 August 2008 mdh