Financial Ratios & Industry Averages

Financial Ratios and Industry Averages can provide great insights while doing a variety of business analysis.  One can see the relative strengths of a company over time, to other companies, or to the larger industry in general. The databases and printed works listed below will help you in your research.

Databases

BizMiner
BizMiner offers industry financial analysis benchmarks for over 5,000 lines of business and industry market trends on thousands more. Their market analysis reports are available at the national and state and local levels. BizMiner is a great resource to use when developing business plans, or for any sort of entrepreneurship initiatives where you need to measure peer performance in an industry. These are industry averages or industry specific financial ratios.

Types of reports:

• Industry Financial Profiles
• U.S. & Local Market Research Reports (includes business failure rates)
• Area Demographic Profiles
• Sole Proprietor/Startup Profit & Loss
• Local Market Vitality Prof

 

IBIS World Industry Reports
IBIS provides Industry market research reports on over 1,300 U.S. industries, plus Canada Industries, China Industries, and Global Industries. Each IBISWorld report includes a statistics and industry averages section. These are industry averages.

Mergent Online
Provides business and financial information for 23,000 U.S. and international companies. Financials for 15 years, balance sheets, income statements "as reported" and can be downloaded to spreadsheet company overview, financial ratios, and IS OUR BEST SOURCE FOR COMPANY ANNUAL REPORTS. These are company specific financial ratios.

MorningStar
Provides independent investment analysis of 1500 stocks and 2000 mutual funds. Includes current analyst reports for both particular companies and funds with an eye to what is happening in the industry. Contains Financial Ratios for each company. This is a highly regarded and unique source of financial information. These are company specific financial ratios.

NetAdvantage
This is an excellent source for company specific information. When you search for a company, and locate a record, note all the content options, including financial ratios in the links along the left margin. These are company specific financial ratios.

 

Industry Averages:

Our Library has excellent sources of Industry Averages (not company specific).
These are in printed volumes, with the most recent in our
Reference Collection on our Library’s Second Floor. We have older editions
of these going back decades, and these can be useful for gaining a historical
perspective of changes over time.

Reference - Financial Ratios - Industry Averages
(located in our Reference collection on the 2nd floor, Kathryn A. Martin Library):
Almanac of Business and Industrial Financial Ratios : REF HF 5681 .R25 T68x
Annual Statement Studies : REF HF 5681 .B2 R6

Last Update: July 25, 2020

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Compiled by Jim Vileta former Business Librarian Need books, media or classroom instruction? Contact Kim Pittman. Need help with research or finding information? Contact libaskus@d.umn.edu

Pages maintained and edited by Andy Lee

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The views and opinions expressed on this page are strictly those of the page author. The contents of this page have not been reviewed or approved by the University of Minnesota. Send Comments to: libaskus@d.umn.edu