Business Research: Finding Financial Ratios for Companies and Industries

Financial ratios show the mathematical relationship between two numbers related to a company’s or an industry’s performance. Once a ratio has been calculated according to the relevant formula, the ratio can be used to help determine how well a particular company or industry is doing in comparison to its competitors and/or in comparison to its own past performance.

 

Here’s how to find company and industry ratios in various UMUC Library databases.

 

Business Insights: Essentials

 

Company ratios

 

• Click on the Companies link from the menu bar toward the top of the database’s home page and then on the link for Financial Reports.
• Browse or search for a U.S. company’s name.

 

• Click on the Ratios tab on the resulting Fundamentals Analysis page.

 

• Click on the Industries link from the menu bar toward the top of the database’s home page and then on the link for Plunkett Reports.

 

• Use the search box on the left-hand side of the page to search for an industry by keyword or NAICS code. The resulting report will include ratios and analysis for the

industry.

Factiva

 

Company ratios

 

• Click on the Companies/Markets link from the menu bar toward the top of the database’s home page and then on Company.

 

• Search for a company and click on its name from the search results.
• On the company snapshot page, click on Financial Results from the left-hand side of the

 

page and use the drop-down menu next to “Statement Type” to select Key Ratios. Industry ratios

 

• Click on the Companies/Markets link from the menu bar toward the top of the database’s home page and then on Industry.

 

• Click on the link for an industry.

 

• On the industry snapshot page, scroll down to the “Industry Averages and Ratios” section.

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Source: https://sites.umuc.edu/library/libhow/businessresearch-financialratios.cfm)			1

 

Hoovers

 

Company ratios

 

• Enter a company’s name in the search box on the database’s home page and click on its name from the results list.

 

• On the company information page, below the “Financials” heading on the left-hand side of the page, click on the Annual Ratios link and/or the Ratio Comparisons

 

• Enter an industry’s name, SIC code, or NAICS code in the search box on the database’s home page and use the drop-down menu next to the search box to select Industries.

 

• Click on the industry link on the search results page.

 

• On the industry information page, below the “Market Research” heading on the left-hand side of the page, click on the All Market Research Reports link and scroll through the list of available reports to select relevant report(s), such as RMA Industry Norms

 

reports.

 

 

• Enter a company’s name in the search box on the database’s home page and click on the company’s name from the search results.

 

• On the company information page, click on the Company Financials tab and then on the Ratios sub-tab.

 

• Click on the Industry Analysis tab on the database’s home page and then select from the among the available industries and/or regions.

 

• Industry reports contain data that demonstrate industry performance.

 

 

• Click on the Menu link in the upper left-hand corner of the database’s home page and then on Company Dossier.

 

• Enter a company’s name in the “Company name” search box and click on its name on the results page.

 

• On the company snapshot page, click on Financial Overview from the menu on the left-hand side of the page and then click on the link for Ratio Analysis.

 

• Click on the Menu link in the upper left-hand corner of the database’s home page and then on Company Dossier.

 

• Click on the Industry tab at the top of the resulting page and enter an industry’s name or SIC code into one of the search boxes.

 

• Click on the link for an industry from the results page.

 

• On the industry overview page, click on the link for Ratio Components.

 

 

• Enter a company’s name in the search box on the database’s home page and click on its name from the results list.

 

 

 

 

(Source: https://sites.umuc.edu/library/libhow/businessresearch-financialratios.cfm)			2

 

• On the company profile page, below the “Financials/Valuation” heading on the left-hand side of the page, click on the Ratios

 

Industry ratios

• Click on the Industry Survey link on the database’s home page.

 

• Use the drop-down menu in the “Industry Surveys” section of the resulting page to select an industry.

 

• Click on the PDF icon next to the name of a report of interest.

 

• Scroll through the report to the relevant section (e.g., “Key industry ratios and statistics,” “Financial metrics,” etc.).

 

Additional Resources

 

The UMUC Library contains many resources that can be used to find more information about what financial ratios are, how they’re calculated, what they can be used for, etc. A sampling of these resources is given below:

 

• Financial ratios – provides information about five categories of ratios: profitability, activity, liquidity, leverage, and market value

 

• Financial ratios – provides information about four categories of ratios: profitability/return on investment, liquidity, leverage, and efficiency
• Financial ratios – provides information about many types of financial ratios: profitability, asset utilization, leverage, liquidity, market value, and common size, as well as cautionary information about the use and interpretation of financial ratios

 

• Business ratios and formulas: A comprehensive guide (2nd edition) – per the preface for this e-book, “There are nearly 200 measurements itemized in this book. Each one is accompanied by a complete description, an explanation of the calculation, an example, and cautions regarding its use.”

 

• Financial ratios: How to use financial ratios to maximize value and success for your business – per the foreword for this e-book, the book looks at financial ratios from the perspectives of customers, employees, suppliers, the community, and shareholders

 

• Intermediate accounting for dummies – this e-book presents 10 ratios for financial statement analysis, in addition to numerous other accounting-related topics
• Analysis of financial statements (3rd edition) – per the description for this e-book, the book’s “authors demonstrate the nuts and bolts of financial analysis by applying the techniques to actual companies”

 

 

 

 

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