Research Guides: PPT115 The Plastics Industry: Company Profile Project

Company Profile Project

There are many resources you can use to gather information about a company. Sources include library databases, Websites, chapters in encyclopedias, magazine and newspaper articles, company literature, and sample products. You may also need to contact the company directly by phone, email, or social media and perhaps do an interview with key personnel.

This guide contains links and other resources that will help you get the information you need on your company. Please use the Help tab if you need further assistance.

Top Resources

Value Line Library Elite This link opens in a new window
Value Line provides a wealth of in-depth financial information, including compendium of current and historical market and financial data spanning thousands of U.S. companies, mutual funds and other securities, industry sectors, indices and economic variables, the Timeliness™ ranking system—an “at-a-glance” prognosticator of 6-12 month relative price performance for approximately 1,700 actively traded U.S. stocks, ranging from 1 (highest) to 5 (lowest), plus commentary and insights on companies, industries, markets and the economy.

Search for Company Information

Click on Lookup Company and enter the ticker, company, or industry name and click Search
Click on the PDF file to view a detailed report
Click on the HTML file to view a custom report
Click on the name of the industry to view a list of companies in that industry

International Directory of Company Histories by Gale (Editor)
Call Number: REF HD2721 .I63 v.1-date
This multi-volume work is the first major reference to bring together histories of companies that are a leading influence in a particular industry or geographic location. The Madigan Library has these volumes in print in the Reference Collection as well as available electronically through the link below to Gale eBooks.

Gale eBooks This link opens in a new window
Full-text articles from multi-volume encyclopedias, biographical collections, business plan handbooks, company history compilations, consumer health references, and specialized reference sources. Most subjects are covered.

Search for International Directory of Company Histories in Gale eBooks

In Gale ebooks, enter the name of your company in the search box
After you see your list of results, look along the left-hand menu and look for the heading Publication Title
Find the title International Directory of Company Histories and click on it
You should now see results that are only within this publication. You can use the titles of the articles to look for an overview of your company, or you can use the heading Subjects along the left to see if your company is listed there
If you find an overview of your company, click on the PDF link to view the article.

Business Market Research Collection This link opens in a new window
Conduct company, industry, economic and geopolitical market research with information from these sources: Hoover's Company Profiles - information about more than 40,000 global public and non-public companies including location, financials, competitors, officers, and more; OxResearch - succinct articles covering regional economic and political developments of significance from a network of 1,000 faculty members at Oxford, other leading universities, and think-tanks; Snapshots - market research overviews on 40+ industries and 40 countries.

Search for Company Information

Click on Advanced Search and change the drop-down box from Anywhere to Ticker Symbol
Enter your company's ticker symbol in the search box and click Search
If your company is found, click on the Link to full text link and it will open the company's overview, financials, rankings, etc. in a new window

Google Finance
Business information, news and interactive charts
Investopedia
Investopedia offers an abundance of financial content, from articles, dictionary terms, tutorials and video, to frequently asked questions and exam prep quizzes.
Yahoo! Finance: Industry Center
A rich source of financial information with company profiles, SEC filings, annual reports, stock quotes, news, analysis, industry statistics and news, and information for investors. Historical quotes for stocks, bonds, and money markets are since 1970 and give daily, weekly, and monthly closing prices and dividends. Also see "Industry Browser" under "Tools" which allows you to browse industries by performance rankings, including ROE, P/E ratio, market cap, price change, price to book value, profit margin, price to book value, long term debt, and more. Enter your company symbol and click "View Industry".
IQS Directory: Industrial Quick Search Manufacturer Directory
OEM manufacturing marketplace gives you 180 industry categories, each having hundreds of manufacturers, in the U.S. and Canada. From business to engineering to facility operations, this site provides multi-faceted information for research and industry analysis.