Company Research

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[edit] 1 About This Page

This guide was created to provide a starting point for researching companies. Some of the resources listed below are subscription databases and may only be accessed by current students, faculty, and staff of Bentley College. To see a full listing of library databases please visit the Bentley Library home page at http://library.bentley.edu.

[edit] 2 General Company Information

Start your company research with the following resources.

  • Datamonitor Company Profiles via Business Source Premier (EBSCO)
    • Type of Resource: Library Database Database.jpg
    • Datamonitor Reports provide a wealth of information, including a company overview, history, products & services analysis, SWOT analysis, current news, etc.
  1. Click on the <Company Profiles> link (right side of the screen).
  2. Enter the company name in the search box and click on <Browse>.
  3. Locate your company in the list and click on <Datamonitor Report> to view the Datamonitor company report.
  • Infotrac Business & Company Resource Center
    • Type of Resource: Library Database Database.jpg
    • Provides a company profile and company history with links to related articles, investment reports, rankings, and market share information.
  1. Click on the <Company> icon.
  2. Search by company name or ticker symbol.
  3. A current company profile will be retrieved. Use the tabs at the top of the screen to also view investment reports, company history, current news, rankings, etc.
  • LexisNexis Academic
    • Type of Resource: Library Database Database.jpg
    • Check out the LexisNexis Academic Company Dossier Reports:
  1. Click on <Business> (top of the screen).
  2. Search using the company`s name or ticker symbol.
  3. A current company snapshot will be displayed. Use the links on the left side of your screen to also look at the other pieces of information that are avilable (e.g. financial information, legal information, current news, etc.)
  1. Go to the <Publications> search section (right side of the screen).
  2. Select <Company Profile> from the drop-down list.
  3. Search using the company`s name or ticker symbol.
  4. A current company profile will be displayed. Use the links on the left side of your screen to also look at the S&P Stock Reports for your company, current company & industry news, competitor information, etc.
  • Factiva
    • Type of Resource: Library Database Database.jpg
    • Factiva provides a basic business description as well as current stock information, financial data, current news, peer group information, and company press releases. Build your own custom report with the latest news articles, quotes, and financials.
  1. Click on <Companies/Markets> on the top of your screen, then click on <Company>.
  2. In the <Get Company Snapshot> perform your search choosing to search by Ticker or Company Name.
  • Plunkett`s Research
    • Type of Resource: Library Database Database.jpg
    • These industry almanacs provide profiles for industry-leading companies. Includes public and private companies.
  • Dun & Bradstreet`s Million Dollar Database
    • Type of Resource: Library Database Database.jpg
    • Please Note: 5 user limit
    • Information on over 1.6 million U.S. and Canadian companies with sales of one million dollars or more, or 20+ employees, or branches with 50+ employees. Company information includes SIC & NAICS codes, size criteria (employees and annual sales), type of ownership, principal executives and biographies.
    • The company profiles in this database provide less narrative information than the sources listed above, but this database is a good resource for locating smaller companies and private companies. It is also useful for searching by such criteria as public vs. private; geographic area; number of employees; sales; etc.
  • ReferenceUSA
    • Type of Resource: Library Database Database.jpg
    • The ReferenceUSA database contains detailed information on more than 14 million U.S. businesses and 3 million international businesses.
      • ReferenceUSA records for U.S. businesses contain contact information, corporation information, company descriptions, management directories, and competitors. Users may also view a company`s Corporate Family Tree. The custom search feature in ReferenceUSA allows users to set up a personalized search form to help identify and compare companies. Custom search options include business type, geography, business size, ownership type, and exceutive gender.
      • The International Business portion (referred to as OneSource) includes 3 million global company profiles; 5 million executives with links to biographies, colleagues and firms; 5 years historical financials for 34,000 global public companies; comprehensive corporate family structures; and one-click currency conversion between dollars, euros or pounds.
  • Mergent`s (formerly Moody`s) Manuals
    • Type of Resource: Reference Books Books.gif (REFERENCE DESK)
    • These manuals provide extensive information for 30,000 public companies worldwide, including history, chronology, acquisitions, mergers, spinoffs, properties, joint ventures, subsidiaries, officers and directors, consolidated income and balance sheets for three and two years, respectively, long term debt, options, etc.

[edit] 3 Financial Information

Find detailed financial information in the following databases. You should also visit the Trading Room for access to other information resources such as Bloomberg, Datastream, Multext, and FactSet.

[edit] 3.1 Annual Reports, SEC filings, Income Statements and Balance Sheets

  • Thomson Research
    • Type of Resource: Library Database Database.jpg
    • Thomson provides annual reports, SEC filings and company financials from 1995 to present. Includes 10-Ks, 10-Qs, tear-sheets, stock quotes, and daily, weekly and monthly stock graphs.
  • LexisNexis Academic
    • Type of Resource: Library Database Database.jpg
    • Contains detailed company financial reports.
  • Factiva
    • Type of Resource: Library Database Database.jpg
    • Contains income & balance sheet information, current & historical stock quotes, and key financial ratios from sources such as Reuters Fundamentals.
      • Click on <Companies/Markets>, then <Company>.
  • When the profile is retrieved click on <Financial Results> to see:
  • Balance Sheet - Annual
  • Cash Flow - Annual
  • Income Statement - Annual
  • Key Ratios
  • Or, click on <Reports> to see:
  • Ratio Comparison Report: Compares key financial ratios of this company against its industry, sector, and the S&P 500 Index aggregates.
  • Detailed Company Profile Report With Financial Results Report: A detailed outline of this company`s primary activities, top officers and executives, competition, history, products, services, key financial ratios, and full balance sheet, income statement and cash flow statements.

[edit] 3.2 Analyst & Investment Reports

Use the following resources to find information about a company`s assets, financial status, stock activity, ratings, rankings and other recent developments.

  1. Click on the <Company> icon to search for a company profile.
  2. Click on the <Investment Reports> tab. Includes reports from a variety of firms, including Smith Barney Citigroup, A.G. Edwards, Prudential Equity, etc.
  • Value Line Investment Survey
    • Type of Resource: Library Database Database.jpg
    • Value Line provides ratings for Timeliness, Safety, and Technical. Also includes an analyst`s written commentary.
    • Note: Choose either <Value Line Research Center> (for current issue) or <Value Line Historical Reports> (for issues back to 1997).
  • Value Line Research Center:
  1. On left side of screen click on <Investment Survey> or <Value Line Small/Midcap Edition>.
  2. In the <Lookup Company> box type in the ticker symbol and hit enter.
  3. Click on PDF link to open PDF version (preferred format for saving and printing).
  • Value Line Historical Reports:
  1. Enter ticker symbol or company name and hit search.
  2. Click on PDF link to open PDF version (preferred format for saving and printing).
  1. Go to the <Publications> search section (right side of the screen).
  2. Select <Stock Reports> from the publications drop-down list.
  3. Search by either the company`s name or ticker symbol

[edit] 4 Searching for Newspaper, Magazine & Journal Articles

Complete your research by conducting a thorough review of current journals, trade publications, magazines and newspapers. The following databases contain articles from thousands of business related newspapers, magazines, journals, and trade publications. Don't restrict your search to just one database. There can be significant differences in journal coverage and full-text availability.

[edit] 4.1 Search Tips

Check the Search Tips page to learn more about searching the library databases. Learn how to search using Boolean operators, truncation characters, field searching and search limiters.

[edit] 4.2 Scholarly and Peer-Reviewed Sources

Has your professor required you to use scholarly or peer-reviewed sources? Check this helpful guide for information to help you understand the difference between scholarly/peer-reviewed and popular sources. Scholarly & Peer Reviewed Sources: What Are They?

[edit] 5 For Further Assistance

Info.jpg To search for additional titles, search the Library Catalog. For further assistance, please contact the Reference Desk via email or by phone at 781.891.2300.

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