Reference:PUBLIC COMPANIES

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PUBLIC COMPANIES

There are three things you should know about any firm before you start trying to research it:

  • Its full name
  • Its headquarters address
  • Its form of ownership

While these may seem simple, these three "facts" about a company can determine where and how you will pursue your research. Many companies are known by short versions of their full name, or by "nicknames". Whether you are looking through a printed index or an electronic database, knowing a company's full name is important, since most if not all will list the company under its full name. Is GM listed under those initials or under General Motors? Is someone looking for information about Ford looking for Ford Motor Company or the Ford Foundation? Students have spent hours lookinf for information about McDonald-Douglas when what they wanted was McDonnell-Douglas.

The headquarters address is important because that is where you will send any direct inquires. Most companies are very aware of the public relations function, and are prepared to send a wide variety of information on request. A researcher can contact the company headquarters and ask for such things as:

  • Recent press releases
  • Product catalogs
  • Brochures describing services
  • Biographical information about officers


Form of Ownership:

Public Company - A corporation whose stock is publicly traded on a stock exchange.

Form of ownership determines the amount and kinds of information that are available for a company. For a public company, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) in Washington D. C. requires that certain annual reports and other kinds of factual information be made available to the public, primarily for the protection of investors who might buy the stock or other securities of the corporation. For the other three forms of ownership, the SEC has no jurisdiction. All companies prepare annual reports, summarizing assets and profit/loss for the year, but only public companies have to share them with anyone who asks. See Directory of Companies required to file annual reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission (Gov Pubs, SE 1.27)

America's Corporate Families (Billion Dollar Directory). Parsippany, N.J.: Dun's Marketing Services.
HG 4057 A147 Ref
Lists about 11,000 "parent" companies and over 66,000 subsidiaries.

Million Dollar Directory. New York: Dun's Marketing Services.
HC 102 D8 Ref
Basic information on approximately 160,000 companies with assets of $500,000 or more.

Ward's Business Directory of U.S. Private and Public Companies. Detroit: Gale Research.
HG 4501 V26 Ref
An excellent directory covering U.S. companies. Specialized volumes rank companies by sales within SIC codes, within the new NAICS codes, and within states.

Moody's Manuals. New York: Moody's Investor Services, annual with frequent updates. Now known as Mergent or Mergents. Also available online as [#fisonline Mergent Online]. Contains Bank & Financial, Industrial, International, Municipal & Government, OTC Industrial, Public Utility, and Transportation information.

Standard & Poor's Stock Reports. New York Stock Exchange, American Stock Exchange, NASDAQ Stock Market and Regional Exchanges. New York: Standard & Poor's Corp, quarterly.
This was formed by the merger of S&P's stock reports for each individual exchange. Information includes stock performance, key financials and ratios. Includes 10 years of stock performance.
HG4905 .S44 Ref (also see [RRF-S&PNetAdvantage.html Standard & Poor's NetAdvantage] (S&P online database) )

Value Line Investment Survey. New York: A. Dernhard, weekly.
Kept at Periodicals Desk (HG 4501 V26 Ref ), 1st floor, Love Library.
Value Line gives a one page analysis and recommendation for about 1700 heavily traded stocks, and also gives a good overview of about 100 industries.

Securities and Exchange Commission.EDGAR
This is the web site for the SEC. It allows you to search for, read and download full-text copies of annual reports, 10-K reports and many other SEC required filings.
http://edgar.sec.gov/cgi-bin/srch-edgar

(Mergent Online): (formerly Moody's Financial Information Services and FIS Online) provides detailed current and historical financial data for over 11,000 U.S. public companies and 17,000 non-U.S. public companies. Information provided includes corporate histories, financial statements, business descriptions, screening options and more.

Also see Lexis Nexis for information on publicly held companies.

Standard & Poor's NetAdvantage (S&P online database)

San Diego County Library (SDCL) has a useful business database called Business and Company Resource Center.

ProQuest has Hoovers Company Records," which contains information on over 40,000 companies using the Hoovers database. Company Capsules deliver information on a company's location, summary financials, top competitors, top officers, and more. Company Profiles are available for over 4,000 records, and provide a company overview and history, as well as information on key people, products, subsidiaries and competitors.

Also see annual reports

MP

6/06

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