Public Company Research
Information on public companies is considerably easier
to locate than information on privately-held companies. In
the United States much of the information you want to access
will be readily available on various Internet sites or accessible
through a local library with a little effort. The most obvious
obvious place to begin are those basic sources mentioned
in the directories section of this guide. However, they often
don't have the depth that is needed, so there are other places
to look. I have included only a small list of sources for
information on public companies - there are many to choose
from. The directions below are geared to finding information
on US public companies, foreign company research is treated
as it's own topic later in this guide.
Most researchers are concerned with looking for current
filings/information. However, if you are looking for historical
filings there are several things to note. First, the Securtities
and Exchange Commission (SEC) did not always require companies
to file electronically. From 1993-1996 the SEC does have
an historical file that
is searchable. Before 1993-1995 only occasional filings will
be electronic so for that period it will be necessary to
consult paper copies. Second, most of these pre-1993-95 filings
are not going to be free. To access them you will have to
go to vendors such as LivEdgar (GSI), Thomson Research and others.
It is possible to access some filings on microfiche by going
to a local public or university library. For example, the
Library of Congress has a set of pre-1974 filings
so check a university or local public library near you for
availability. There is a nice discussion offered from the Columbia
University library. Also, there is some access on Lexis-Nexis
but this is subscription-based product so you will need to
be a subscriber to access that information.
If you are looking for information on what is contained
in SEC filings or want to know more, Investopedia has " Intro
to Fundamental Analysis" with information on many aspects
of financial statements - Balance Sheet, Cash Flow, etc.,
and the Fool.com has " Intro to
SEC Forms" that has links to information on the various
aspects of the financial statements, some of which require
registration. The Securities and Exchange Commissiona also
offers a description of the various SEC filings and
an online filings search.
There are also reports, available for a fee, which are
prepared by investment houses like Merrill Lynch, Credit Suisse First Boston, Morgan
Stanley, Lehman Brothers, Salomon Smith Barney, Deutsche
Bank, etc. These reports are on public companies only,
and can be quite expensive from aggregators like Investext for those that subscribe.
Some reports may be available from Business & Company
Resources (Gale) a product often found in local public
libraries.
|
Doing Company Research
Table of Contents
Scope
Directories
Rankings/Lists
Private Company Research
Public Company Research
Foreign Company Research
|
Other sources of basic information about public companies
include:
S&P Register of Corporations, Directors and Executives.
LC Call Number: HG4057.A4
LC Control Number: 76642986
Standard & Poor's Corp.
Catalog
record
Yahoo! Finance.
This is a good starting point for all basic
company information. Links to recent articles, SEC filings,
recent stock information, etc.
Handbook of NASDAQ Stocks. New York
: FIS, a Mergent Company (once Moody's).
LC Call Number: HG4501.M58
LC Control Number: 00238123
Published 4 times a year. Contains information
on stock trading, annual financial data for approximately
7 years, some quarterly data, recent news, contact, and
other basic company data.
Catalog
record
Handbook of Common Stocks. New York,
N.Y. : Published by FIS, a Mergent Company (once Moody's).
LC Call Number: HG4501.M59
LC Control Number: sn 99041416
Published 4 times a year. Contains information
on stock trading, annual financial data for approximately
7 years, some quarterly data, recent news, contact, and
other basic company data.
Catalog
record
-
Top of Page
Company Web Pages.
Some will obviously be more helpful than others
and each will be organized according to the needs of its
company and with its own idiosyncracies.
SEC Filings.
The next place to look are in any filings the
company has to make with the proper regulators. In the United
States that is the Securities & Exchange Commission. Their
10Ks (annual reports - 10KSB for Small Business Public Companies)
and 10Qs (quarterly reports) etc. can be a very rich source
of information. Pay particular attention to Item 1 - the
business description, Item 7 the Management
Discussion and Analysis, and the Financial
Footnotes.
Public Register's Annual Report Service.
PRARS, is a large annual report service. Company
financials, including annual reports, prospectuses or 10k's
on over 3,600 public companies are available without charge
to the investing public.
Annual Report Gallery.
The Report Gallery currently lists over 2,200
Annual Reports and covers the majority of the fortune 500
companies.
Listing Statements of the New York
Stock Exchange.
LC Call Number: HG4501.N4
LC Control Number: ca 24000283
Published from 1884-1983 it contains the actual
Annual Report, Prospectuses, etc. of the companies listed
on the NYSE.
Catalog
record
Dun and Bradstreet/Gale Industry
Reference Handbooks. Stacy A. McConnell, editor
; Linda D. Hall.
LC Call Number: HG4907.D86
LC Control Number: 00500443
This is a series arranged by Industry. Within
each there are industry overviews, statistics, rankings,
association, companies, trade shows, financial norms, directory,
and much more.
Catalog
record
Mergent (Moody's) Bank and Finance
Manual. New York Mergent FIS, 1955-.
LC Call Number: HG4961.M65
LC Control Number: 2001260249
Catalog
record
Mergent (Moody's) Industrial Manual.
New York, N.Y. : Mergent FIS, 1955-.
LC Call Number: HG4961.M67
LC Control Number: 56014721
Catalog
record
Mergent (Moody's) OTC Industrial
Manual. New York, NY : Mergent Inc., 1955- .
LC Call Number: HG4961.M7237 or HG4961.M723
LC Control Number: 77649772
Catalog
record
Top of Page
In addition to the sources listed in the Basic Sources
(?) section and company web pages, other places to search
include:
D&B reports.
These are generally not free and often the information
is limited.
Proxies filed with the SEC.
These are documents filed at the time the company
has its Annual Meeting. They contain information on executive
compensation packages and bios on the officers and directors.
This document may be its own document within a 10K or "Incorporated
by Reference."
ID Exec.
This is a paid database, available to subscribers
only, which contains information on 2,000,000 executive decision
makers and 900,000 of the most important public, private,
non-profit and government organizations in the U.S. and globally.
Information on line-of-business decision makers is categorized
with idEXEC's proprietary Job Function Codes plus hyper linked
global parent/subsidiary org charts.
Top of Page
SEC Filings. There are several
sections to a public filing that are relevant here. Each
section contains very different information.
-
-
- Balance Sheet -
- information on assets like goodwill, inventories,
intangibles, accounts receivable, PP&E (property,
plant & equipment), etc. and liabilities like
tax information, accounts payable, financing, etc.
There are several sources that provide discussion
on the Balance Sheet: About.com.
Investopedia and The
Street.com.
-
- Income Statement -
- information on revenue, expenses, R&D, marketing
and SG&A (sales and general expenses). There
are several sources that provide discussion on
the Income Statement: About.com, Investopedia,
and The
Street.com.
-
- Cash Flow -
- information on operations, inventory, financing,
investments.
Investopedia has a section in their "Intro to Fundamental
Analysis" devoted to the Cash
Flow Statement. It includes general information
and a sample.
-
- Financial Footnotes -
- gives explanations as to accounting practices
and other information to explain how they accounted
for various elements in their financial statements.
Investopedia has a section in their "Intro to Fundamental
Analysis" devoted to the Financial
Footnotes.
Web pages.
The investor section of the company web
pages often have the Annual Reports and sometimes
the SEC filings for the company.
Hoovers.
The really detailed financial information
in this source is subscription based, but the web
site does allow the user to compare with other companies
in the industry and download information into Excel.
Standard & Poor's (S&P).
This company has Industry Surveys that are by
industry. Each has tables in the rear of the report
that give much financial information by company by
financial statement.
Web Pages.
Companies frequently allow users to find
information about particular plants (especially in
manufacturing), properties they own, or other offices/locations
(often found in the contact information).
Directory of Corporate Affiliations.
Skokie, Ill. : National Register Pub. Co., c1973.
LC Call Number: HG4057.A217
LC Control Number: 83641510
This product is available in print, or
by subscription from the publisher's web site or on
Lexis-Nexis, a subscription based service.
Catalog
record
Annual Reports and 10Ks.
These can usually be found on company
web pages. SEC documents can be searched
on the SEC.
Dun & Bradstreet.
These reports are not free, but they can
be purchased from Dun and Bradstreet.
Americas Corporate Families:
the Billion Dollar Directory. Parsippany,
N.J. : Dun's Marketing Services.
LC Call Number: HG4057.A147
LC Control Number: 82643626
Basic information that Dun's includes
in all of its publications: contact information,
officers/directors, and very basic financial data.
Catalog
record
Who Owns Whom. High
Wycombe Bucks, [England] : Dun & Bradstreet Ltd.
Various Editions
- North and South American Edition
LC Call Number: HG4081.Z65 W48
LC Control Number: 98659281
Catalog
record
- Australasia, Asia, Middle East & Africa
LC Call Number: HG4009 .W464
LC Control Number: 98659285
Catalog
record
- United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland Ediion
LC Call Number: HG4135.5 .W48
LC Control Number: 98659287
Catalog
record
- Continental Europe
LC Call Number: HG4132.Z5 W52
LC Control Number: 98659286
Catalog
record
Top of Page
There is some information that is specific to particular
industries: location, number of stores, square feet managed,
etc. For example, Real Estate Investment Trusts, retail
companies, manufacturing companies, and pharmaceutical
companies (and other companies with a strong emphasis
in R&D) are a few of the industries that may break
down this type of information. It can usually be found
in Item 1, the Business Section or in the Management
Discussion & Analysis (the business section of what?
the SEC filings?). Sources for some of this information
includes the following:
- R&D
- - Information on Research & Development can
be discussed in the Business description and in the
Management Discussion & Analysis while financial
information is usually found in the Income Statement.
- SG&A
- - Information on Sales, General, & Administration
is usually one or two lines found in the Income Statement.
- PP&E
- - Information on Property, Plant , & Equipment
is found in the Balance Sheet.
- Marketing
- - This is something that may or may not be included.
If it is, it can be found in Item 1 - the Business
Section and sometimes in the Balance Sheet.
- Competition /
Strategy
- - Like Marketing this is something that may or may
not be included and once again like marketing will
be in Item 1 - the Business Description.
- Intangibles
- - This is something that will vary but financially
it will be found in the Balance sheet, though it may
be discussed in Item 1 or the Management Discussion & Analysis,
and possibly the Financial Footnotes.
- Inventories
- - Information on Inventories can be found in the
same places as business lines and in the Balance Sheet.
- Goodwill
- - This is another that may or may not be included,
if it is, the financial information will be in the
Balance Sheet.
Top
of Page
Many of the following electronic sources, like Hoover's,
have a free and for fee component. However, other sources
are completely fee based.
Business
and Company Resource Center (Gale)
This database, often found in public libraries,
offers much information on large public companies. The
introductory screen provides the same basic company information
found in many sources. However, this database also offers
many different tabs for more specialized information,
including rankings, investment house reports, news (also
grouped by topic), histories, financials, products, industry
overview (by SIC - links to overviews by SIC and market
overviews), and related associations.
Mergent
Online.
A subscription database that provides U.S.
company data for over 15,000 public companies and their
SEC filings and U.S. annual reports. Also contains International
company data for approximately 17,000 companies, including
international annual reports, factsheets, and country
information.
Standard & Poor's
NetAdvantage.
Information for the investor on markets and
the economy. Includes data and analysis of industries,
companies, stocks, bonds, mutual funds, indexes, and
current news. Net Advantage contains the following S&P
publications: Bond Guide Mutual Fund Reports, Corporation
Records The Outlook, Dividend Record Register of Corporations,
Earnings Guide Stock Guide, and Industry Surveys Stock
Reports.
|
|