| Mergent Online
allows the researcher to generate customized reports on over 10,000 publicly traded U.S.
companies and over 17,000 non-U.S. companies, representing more than 90% of the
world’s market capitalization. Mergent Online also provides annual report images;
real-time feeds of SEC documents with archives back to 1993; and information on
institutional holdings and insider trading of company stock. Finally, it allows the user
to search Dun & Bradstreet’s Million Dollar Database Plus — a database of
500,000 private companies. The information provided by Mergent Online consists of detailed
business descriptions, a chronology of significant company events since incorporation, and
full information on all capital stock and long-term debt. Mergent is unique in offering a
history of “as-presented” financial statements which provide line-for-line and
number-for-number detail and accuracy. |
To begin searching Mergent Online, select it from the list of
Reference Databases at http://www.uri.edu/library/reference_databases/title.html.
From the Basic Search screen, you may search for companies by
name or ticker symbol. To search for more than one company, separate each name or ticker
symbol with a comma. Partially entered symbols or company names will yield a list of all
possible matches. |
Basic Search screen. |
| After you
click on “Submit,” the Search Results screen will be displayed. Here
you will see the companies that match your search criteria. Choose the company you want
information on by clicking on the company name, e.g. “Hasbro, Inc.” This
will give you the greatest number of document selection options. |
Search Results screen. |
| On the Document
Selection screen, you will see a long list of options for building your
report, from basics such as “History,” “Property,”
“Subsidiaries,” “Long Term Debt," "Capital Stock,” and
“News Headlines,” to research on “Institutional Holdings” and
“Insider Trades.” Financial information available includes annual and quarterly
“Balance Sheets“ and “Income Statements,” “Ratio Analysis,”
and company “Annual Reports.” Select any or all of these data elements and press
“Submit.” The documents you requested will be displayed in your browser window.
If you wish to print them, simply use the Print feature of your browser. If you have
chosen documents that contain only numerical data, you may chose to download them
to a spreadsheet by clicking on “Spreadsheet” instead of “Submit.”
Financial statements for international companies will appear in the local currency of the
company. You may use the drop-down menu pictured below to convert the currency, for
example, to U.S. dollars. Mergent Online will use the exchange rate in effect at the time
the statement was filed. 
Part of the Document Selection screen.
More sophisticated search options are available by using Advanced
Search. Here you may search for companies by a wide range of parameters, such as
industry classification; geographic location; number of employees; name of officers,
directors, or subsidiaries; and financial criteria such as profit margin. You may also
perform a keyword search in the text of the History, Business, or Property sections.
Part of the Advanced Search screen.
|
| The search above is by NAICS
number. 339931 and 339932 are two industry classification codes for toy manufacturers. The
results will be a list of U.S. and non-U.S. companies that manufacture toys. From the Search Results screen, you may select ”Build a report
on these companies.” From the ReportBuilder screen, you can
select all or any combination of the companies listed in your results, sort them by any of
over 35 criteria, and choose what data you would like to appear in up to 15 columns. Your
report may be viewed online or downloaded to a spreadsheet. 
ReportBuilder screen.
|
| Similarly, Mergent Online allows
you to perform a Custom or Standard Peer Group Analysis on a company of
interest. A Custom Peer Group Analysis allows you to pick the financial criteria
by which your company will be compared to its peer group (the rest of the companies on the
list or a selection of them).The Standard Peer Group Analysis compares the
company of your choice against the others in the group by a number of pre-selected
financial measures. |
Standard Peer Group Analysis. |
| Note that from the Basic Search screen (see above) you may also select Search EDGAR. By
doing so you may search for SEC filings a number of ways, as well as perform keyword
searches of the full text of EDGAR filings. 
If you have any questions on how to use Mergent Online,
please contact the Reference Desk at (401) 874-2653. Mergent Online is available to
students, faculty, and staff of the HELIN institutions only.
A. Rathemacher • 5/03. Rev. 9/03. |
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