Getting Started With Public Company Research

A public corporation is a company which is owned by a group of investors called shareholders or stockholders.  (For greater details see Corporation.)  Information is more readily available on public companies because they are required to make public reports to the government on a quarterly and annual basis.  Annual reports disclose a company's

• operations,
• its officers, directors, (including their salary and various fringe benefits), major shareholders , and transactions between the company and management,
• the financial condition of the business (including financial statements audited by an independent certified public accountant),
• and its competitive position and material terms of contracts or lease agreements.

There are also several other sources of information on public companies, including newspaper, magazine and journal articles, financial reports, world wide web and various encyclopedias and books available in the library.  Remember that no single source will provide you with a comprehensive portrait of your company, so, depending on what you need, you may want to search several of them.

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Profiles:  One-Stop Resources
The following resources provide an array of information, including current news, brief histories and financial information on public corporations. They are useful for a quick, general overview of your company.

World Wide Web Resources

Hoover's Online
Hoover's is well known for its extensive collection of company profiles.

WSRN:  Wall Street Research Network
Offers several types of company histories and profiles.  Almost all of them are available at no cost.

Yahoo Company-Finance
Information on over 8,000 public companies with links for 31,183 companies and funds.

CorpTech Profiles 45,000 high tecnology companies.  80% of  coverage is on private companies. (Free registration required.)
 

Library Resources

Moody's Manuals  Check your local library for holdings.
Ref. HG 4905 - Ref HG 4971

Standard and Poor's Corporation Record
 

 

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Current Information

If you need current news and developments for your corporation, use the resources in this section.  When searching for information, evaluate your sources carefully.
 

Reputable newspapers, magazines and journals have generally been screened for accuracy, objectivity, and reliability. You should be careful to evaluate the information you find in these resources, however, because some information will be more authoritative and reliable than others. (For a helpful guide to evaluating articles, see Colorado State University library's How to Evaluate Journal Articles.)

Information on the World Wide Web is not monitored, edited or evaluated.  Consider the source of your site carefully.  (See Evaluating Web Resources, an excellent evaluation checklist developed by Erica Lilly, Coordinator for Electronic Services, Kent Sate University)

Corporate web sites may be valuable sources of company information, but you must keep in mind that your business has a vested interest in the image its web presence projects.    Consider carefully whether the information you obtain is objective and accurate.  You may want to verify some information with more than one source.

Newspapers

Magazines and Journal Articles

World Wide Web
 

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Company Histories

Company histories provide background information on your corporation.  You may find histories in books, chapters of books, and reference materials. Brief histories may be available in magazine or journal articles.  Often, corporations may include histories in the text of their annual report or in their web sites.

Books and Reference Materials
To find books or chapters of books on your company, search your local library catalog or (for OhioLINK patrons) OhioLINK Central Catalog. If you are certain of your company name, searching the  name as a Subject will provide you with a precise list of materials. If you are unsure of the proper company name and/or a subject search has not produced any titles, searching by Word may produce good results.  For further help using OhioLINK Central see OhioLINK Central Catalog Search Help.
Connect to OhioLINK Central Catalog

Keep in mind that generally only the largest, most well known companies will actually have books written on them, so you may not find anything in the catalog on some companies.

 
If you do not find a book, try one of these collections of company histories from the OhioLINK catalog:

International Directory of Company Histories
Notable Corporate Chronologies
 

Other Resources for Company Histories

To find histories in magazines or journals, return to Magazine and Journal Articles in the Current Information section above.

To find histories in a company annual report,  see the Annual Reports and Investment Prospectus sections below.

To find histories in a company web site, see Corporate Web Sites in the Current Information section above.

Financial Information

All public companies are required to make full disclosure of their financial status with the Securities and Exchange Commission.  (For greater detail see the Company Financial Statements) Thus finding financial information on publicly held corporations is a relatively easy matter. Try the most recent annual report first--it will provide you with the most complete financial picture.

Annual Reports
FIS Online (Moody's) (By subscription at YSU only)

Investment Prospectus and IPO Filings
The investment prospectus is a document companies file with the SEC when they are preparing to make an initial public offering (IPO).  It provides a "detailed discussion of the company, its performance and profitability, the management and the intended uses for the funds raised."  (EOB)  It is a good source for historical financial information.
You may find these reports by using the following resources:

Edgar (if the initial public offering was after 1993  )
IPO Filings
IPO Central

Market and Investment Information

Financial Ratios

Lexis/Nexis Academic Universe (By subscription at YSU and KSU only.)