Directories
Directories are useful for determining if a company is publicly traded, a private entity or a subsidiary. They provide basic information about a company such as address, phone and fax numbers, nature of the business, SIC codes, number of employees, names of officers, sales figures, etc.
Hoovers provides detailed information on public and private companies in the U.S. and internationally.
Dun & Bradstreet's Million Dollar Database allows you to search for company information in a variety of ways, indicates whether a company is public, private or a subsidiary, and provides basic company information. U.S. companies only.
For Wisconsin companies not found in these databases, consult the following books in the Business Library Reference Collection:
Wisconsin Business Service Directory -- REF HG 4057 W572
Wisconsin Manufacturers Directory -- REF HG 4057 W581
Wisconsin Business-to-Business Sales & Marketing Directory --
REF HG 4057 W6 W573
Publicly Traded Companies
Comprehensive information on public companies can be found in OneSource and Mergent Online.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission requires all public companies whose stock is traded on an American exchange to file numerous reports.
Annual Reports to Shareholders are issued approximately 3 months after the end of a company's fiscal year. Use the Mergent Online database and click on EDGAR Search.
The library also has paper copies of annual reports for most Fortune 500 companies as well as public Wisconsin companies. These may be checked out at the Circulation Desk.
For 10K's, 10Q's and other SEC filings, use OneSource or the Mergent Online database.
Analysts' Reports on public companies can be found in OneSource, a database which is networked across campus.
Standard & Poor's Net Advantage consists of 11 full text S&P publications and is searchable by company name. Start by clicking on "Corporation Records".
Additional Financial Information on public companies can be found in:
- Bloomberg, a database on one computer in the Business Library that is only available to UW-Madison students, faculty and staff.
- Handbook of Common Stocks -- Reference HG 4921 M6
- Handbook of Dividend Achievers -- Reference HG 4050 M66
- Standard & Poor's Security Owner's Stock Guide -- Reference HG 4915 S67
- Standard & Poor's Stock Reports -- Reference HG 4921 S445
- ValueLine Investment Survey -- Reference HG 4921 V3 R4
Also available in the Business Library on CD-ROM. ValueLine is a quarterly publication which provides statistical and analytical information on 1700 companies. - For help in interpreting the information in ValueLine, see How To Invest In Common Stocks: A Guide to Using the Value Line Investment Survey -- Reference HG 4961 V3 R3
Articles and the latest news can be found by searching in:
- ABI/Inform, a database which searches over 1000 business periodicals.
- Business & Industry, a database which searches for trade journal articles.
- Business Full Text, a database with 400 business periodicals.
- Business Source Elite, a database which searches over 1000 business periodicals.
- Factiva has a "Publications Library" with over 9000 periodicals.
- Lexis/Nexis, a database with over 5000 publications from all over the world, has full text newspapers and magazines.
Rankings and Market Share can be found in:
- Business & Industry -- search: company name and market share
- OneSource
- Business Journal Book of Lists -- REF HG 4058 M6 B8
- Market Share Reporter -- REF HF 5410 M28
- Wisconsin State Journal Book of Business -- REF HG 4058 M25
Dividend Information can be found in
- Mergent Online
- Mergent Divident Record -- REF HG 4028 D5 M61
- Handbook of Dividend Achievers -- REF HG4050 M66
Competitors are listed in Hoovers. After finding a company record, click on Competitors in the left margin.
Companies that are barred from from receiving federal contracts or federal financial assistance are in the Excluded Parties List System. This database is maintained by the U.S. General Services Administration.
Subsidiaries & Divisions of Larger Companies
Unless they are publicly-traded, subsidiaries and divisions of larger companies are not required to release annual reports or any financial information.
Comprehensive information can be often be found in OneSource.
Although a parent company is not required to provide separate financial information for each of its subsidiaries, some information may be found in the parent company's annual report or 10K. For the full text of a parent company's Annual Reports, 10K's, 10Q's and other SEC filings from 1994 to the present, use Mergent Online.
The web sites of subsidiaries and divisions often have valuable information. Sometimes subsidiary information is included in the parent company's web site. Search Google to find urls for subsidiary and division web sites.
Competitors are listed in Hoovers. After finding a company record, click on Competitors in the left margin.
Articles and the latest news can be found by searching in:
- ABI/Inform, a database which searches over 1000 business periodicals.
- Business & Industry, a database which searches for trade journal articles.
- Business Full Text, a database with 400 business periodicals.
- Business Source Elite, a database which searches over 1000 business periodicals.
- Factiva has over 10,000 periodicals from 159 countries in 22 languages.
- Lexis/Nexis, a database with over 5000 publications from all over the world, has full text newspapers and magazines.
Private Companies
Private companies can be difficult to research because they are not required to release any information to the public.
Basic information including sales estimates and number of employees can be found in the following databases:
Articles and the latest news can be found by searching in:
- ABI/Inform, a database which searches over 1000 business periodicals.
- Business & Industry, a database which searches for trade journal articles.
- Business Full Text, a database with 400 business periodicals.
- Business Source Elite, a database which searches over 1000 business periodicals.
- Factiva has a "Publications Library" with over 9000 periodicals.
- Lexis/Nexis, a database with over 5000 publications from all over the world, has full text newspapers and magazines.
The web sites of private companies often have valuable information. Search Google to find the url for a private company's web site.