Company Research  Tags: public_companies  

During the fall and spring semesters, Reference Librarians are available:

• Monday: 9 am to 10 pm
• Tuesday: 9 am to 10 pm
• Wednesday: 9 am to 10 pm
• Thursday: 9 am to 9 pm
• Friday: 9 am to 8 pm
• Saturday: 1 to 6 pm
• Sunday: 1 to 10 pm

Business Library Reference Desk: Room 2200 Grainger Hall 608-265-6202

Ask Business - email a Business Reference Librarian

Because private companies do not have to release any information about themselves, there is often a limited amount of information available.

Databases with basic private company information are:

OneSource - basic information and links to recent articles on U.S. and international companies.

Hoovers - private companies in the U.S. and international companies.

D&B Million Dollar Database - U.S. companies only.

Private companies are often discussed in newspaper and magazine articles. Databases such as ABI/Inform and Business Source Elite each have articles from over 1000 business periodicals. See the "Latest News" tab above for additional article databases.

Even though financial information is not available for most private companies, the following books and databases have industry averages:

Fintel provides financial averages for over 2500 industries. The database includes 3 reports: income statement and balance sheet data reported as a percent to sales revenue, income statement and balance sheet data reported in dollars, and 15 corporate ratios. This database is only available in Grainger Hall.

Almanac of Business & Industrial Financial Ratios - Reference Collection HF 5681 R25 T68

Industry Norms and Key Business Ratios - Reference Collection HF5681 R25 I5

RMA Annual Statement Studies - Reference Collection HF 5681 B2 R6

These resources are organized by SIC and NAICS industry codes. Click on the "Directories" tab in this guide for a description of these codes.

Company web sites often provide useful information on a company's activities and plans for the future.