Research Guides: Business Management: Mergent Market Atlas & Key Business Ratios

Mergent Market Atlas

Mergent Market Atlas
Covers corporate information for over 50,000 US and foreign public companies. Content includes current and historical (past 15 years) firm descriptions, statistics, financial information and ratios, annual reports, mergers, major competitors, SEC filings, acquisitions, disposals, joint ventures, long-term debt, capital stock, annual shareholder reports, stock market trading, and insider trading. It also provides custom searches and predefined reports are over Company, Sustainability, Industry, Country and Economic analysis.

Key Business Ratios

Key Business Ratios
Key Business Ratios (KBR) provides immediate online access to competitive benchmarking data. This powerful tool lets researchers examine industry benchmarks compiled from D&B’s database of public and private companies, featuring 14 key business ratios for public and private companies in 800 lines of business.

Key Business Ratios provides online access to competitive benchmarking data. This tool lets researchers examine industry benchmarks compiled from D&B®’s database of public and private companies, featuring 14 key business ratios (users choose a one-year or three-year set of ratios) for public and private companies in 800 lines of business.

The video below provides a brief look at compiling benchmark data.

RMA Annual Statement Studies (Financial Ratio Benchmarks)

RMA Annual Statement Studies: Financial Ratio Benchmarks by Risk Management Association; Robert Morris Associates
Call Number: Ref HF5681.B2 R6

Publication Date: 2024-25

ISSN: 1551-6067
Contains composite financial data on manufacturing, wholesaling, retailing, service, and contracting lines of business. Arranged by SIC code, this work makes it possible to compare one company's performance relative to other companies in the same line of business. Older editions are available online via HathiTrust and a large collection in the Hatfield Library's 2nd floor stacks (call # HF5681.B2 R6).

NAICS Codes & Ticker Symbols

The US Census Bureau provides access to NAICS codes or industry codes to facilitate organization of companies and information. The advantage of using NAICS codes while searching allows you to retrieve known and previously unknown companies related to a particular industry. You may use these codes to search Mergent Online as well as our business databases in EBSCOhost.

NAICS Codes

This video illustrates how to quickly search for and identify relevant NAICS Codes.

The Ticker Symbol Lookup is a free feature from Yahoo Finance. Type in a publicly held company name and it will provide you with the ticker symbol as well as the market the stock is exchanged on. You can use ticker symbols to search Mergent Market Atlas, Key Business Ratios, and EbscoHost's Business Source Complete database.

Ticker Symbols

Definition & History of SIC CODES
by Gary Klein

Standard Industrial Classification Codes (SIC Codes) and North American Industry Classification System (NAISC Codes) are numerical codes designed by the U.S. Government in order to create uniform descriptions of business establishments.

SIC codes have 4 digits
NAICS codes have 6 digits
SIC codes were first rolled out in 1937 within the United States, leading to similar industrial classifications being adopted over the years in other countries. Refinements and new codes have been made to reflect emerging industries, changes of technology, and trends in industrial procedures & uses of manpower. The United States officially ceased using SIC codes when NAICS codes were introduced.
NAICS were developed in the 1990s as a joint project of several countries to replace SIC codes and to facilitate common statistical gathering methods among nations that signed multinational trade agreements, such as NAFTA. NAICS codes are officially updated every five years (years ending in 2 or 7).
Although SIC codes were officially abandoned in 1997, as NAICS was brought online, many people and resources still refer to any industrial coding system as "SIC" even when they are actually using NAICS.

While NAICS have mostly replaced SIC codes, SIC numbers are still used. Both NAICS and SIC codes can help compile information about companies that produce similar products or services such as lumping lemon, limes, and oranges under citrus fruits. Keep in mind that NAICS and SIC Codes have very different hierarchies; there is no consistent method to "translate" the four digit SIC code to the 6 digit NAICS system. From left to right, is the most general economic division which continually refine into more specific industries.

The first-left most digit (0XXX) represents the major economic division
The second-left most digit (X0XX) represents the major economic group within the division
The third-left most digit (XX0X) represents the general industry within the economic group
The fourth-left most digit (XXX0) represents a specific industry within the general industry

North American Industry Classification System (NAICS)

Find the right NAICS code: https://www.census.gov/naics


Sector #	Description
11	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting
21	Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction
22	Utilities
23	Construction
31 - 33	Manufacturing
42	Wholesale Trade
44 - 45	Retail Trade
48 - 49	Transportation and Warehousing
51	Information
52	Finance and Insurance
53	Real Estate, Rental, and Leasing
54	Professional, Scientific and Technical Services
55	Management of Companies and Employees
56	Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services
61	Educational Services
62	Health Care and Social Assistance
71	Arts, Entertainment and Recreatoin
72	Accommodation and Food Services
81	Other Services (except Public Administration)
92	Public Administration

Company Profiles & Reports

These are additional resources that provide company-specific information.

Key Business Ratios
Key Business Ratios (KBR) provides immediate online access to competitive benchmarking data. This powerful tool lets researchers examine industry benchmarks compiled from D&B’s database of public and private companies, featuring 14 key business ratios for public and private companies in 800 lines of business.
Business Source Complete
Provides full text from nearly 3,300 journals covering business, management, economics, banking, finance, accounting and more. It also indexes nearly 4,200 journals. 1922 - present.
Business Insights
Combines business & industry directories for company-specific info. Search by: company name; stock ticker symbol; SIC/NAICS code; brand name, product description. It is a great starting point for Market shares or industry rankings.

Industry Profiles & Reports

These are additional resources that provide industry insights, primarily databases.

Encyclopedia of Associations
Lists over 158,000 trade associations, professional societies, hobby enthusiast groups, and fraternal organizations with description of each entity.
Culinary Arts
Trade magazines about food preparation for amateur cooks & professional chefs, ranging from small businesses, to catering, fast food, sit down restaurants, and large food processing operations. Coverage includes searchable recipes, restaurant reviews, and industry information.
Entrepreneurship
Covers how to start, finance or manage your small business. It includes sample business plans, how to guides, trade magazines, and select academic journals.
Hospitality and Tourism
Primarily trade magazines and some academic journals, focusing on businesses of all sizes in the hospitality, leisure and tourism industries. Coverage includes historical and current state of affairs of these industries, as well as cultural and economic aspects.
Home Improvement
Even the smallest home improvement project can be daunting: with this collection of nearly 100 home improvement focused titles, hobbyists and professional carpenters alike will immediately put their projects on a more solid foundation. Coverage includes such topics as architectural techniques, tool and material selection, zoning requirements, and many more.
Gardening and Horticulture
Consists of 50 journals that focus on key issues in gardening, landscaping, and other areas of horticulture. This collection includes content relating to both the practical aspects as well as the scientific theory of horticulture studies. Useful for farmers, landscape architects, and bio-technologists.

What is an Economic Census?

An economic census is the official five-year measure of businesses in the United States providing comprehensive statistics at the national, state, and local levels. It serves as the benchmark for current economic activity, such as the Gross Domestic Product and Producer Price Index. The cycles typically occur in years that end with 2 or 7 (2012, 2017, 2022, 2027...).

Major Economic Censuses

Economy - corporations, business & industry

Labor - employment, unemployment, cost of living, CPI, PPI, and productivity

Agriculture - farms, ranches, growers, nurseries, food producers, food processors

Population Demographics - individuals, households, cities, zip codes, counties, states, national

Governments - government funded schools, colleges, universities