User Guides Subject Guides > Business, Labor & Economics Industry Ratios & Averages

This is a guide to sources of industry ratios and averages and to materials that explain how to calculate and interpret these numbers. Composite financial data such as industry ratios and averages are generally used to compare one company’s performance to that of an industry as a whole.

For books and other information on ratios, search the HELIN Library Catalog using the Library of Congress Subject Heading “Ratio analysis.” For periodical articles about ratios, search the Reference Database ABI/INFORM using the Subject Term “Ratios” and narrower terms such as “Ratio analysis,” “Financial ratios,” and “Operational Ratios.”

Sources of industry ratios & averages | Definitions and interpretations

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Sources of industry ratios & averages

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URI Reserves HG181 .A1 R62. (1977- in Serial Stacks.)

CCE Permanent Reserve HF5681 .B2 R6. (1979- on Reference.)

Robert Morris Associates. RMA Annual Statement Studies. Annual.

Contains balance sheet figures and financial & operating ratios for over 360 lines of business in manufacturing, wholesaling, retailing, contracting, and service industries. Provides four years of historical data and breaks each industry down by company size in assets and sales.

URI Reserves HC101 .I53. (1982/83- in Serial Stacks.)

CCE Permanent Reserve HF5681 .R25 I525. (Previous 9 years on Reference.)

Dun & Bradstreet Credit Services. Industry Norms and Key Business Ratios. Annual.

Gives balance sheet and income statement statistics and ratios for over 800 lines of business. Each industry is broken down into three size classes. Provides one year of figures.

URI Reserves HF5681 .R25 T68. (1973- in Serial Stacks.)

CCE Reference HF5681 .R25 A45. 1997, 2001.

Troy, Leo. Almanac of Business and Industrial Financial Ratios. Annual.

Nicknamed the “Troy Almanac,” this source provides balance sheet data and financial and operating ratios for about 160 industries, each broken down into 12 asset group sizes.

URI Govt. Pub. C 3.267: 1964-1993 (incomplete). Continued on MFILM

1993- (incomplete).

http://purl.access.gpo.gov/GPO/LPS1832 OR
http://www.census.gov/prod/www/abs/qfr-mm.html

Quarterly Financial Report for Manufacturing, Mining, and Trade Corporations.

Presents quarterly income statement and balance sheet data as well as selected financial and operating ratios classified by industry and asset size. Composite totals are also given for manufacturing, mining, wholesale trade, and retail trade. Continues the Quarterly Financial Report for Manufacturing Corporations.

A number of items in the URI Libraries address the topics of ratio analysis and the interpretation of financial statements at length. You may search for them using the HELIN Library Catalog (see above).

Other sources that allow you to quickly look up how to calculate and interpret financial ratios are also available. The RMA Annual Statement Studies (above) includes an explanation of each ratio and a bibliography of other sources of composite financial data. You will also find explanations of ratios in many accounting dictionaries and handbooks. These can be located by searching the HELIN Library Catalog by the subjects “Accounting dictionaries” and “Accounting handbooks manuals etc.”

In addition, the selected reference books listed below allow you to quickly look up how to calculate a ratio or what a specific ratio “means.”

URI Ref. HF5691 .B73 2002

Bragg, Steven M. Business Ratios and Formulas: A Comprehensive Guide. 2002.

Contains nearly 200 performance measurements that address asset utilization, operating performance, cash flows, liquidity, capital structure, return on investment, market performance, and more. Each measurement is accompanied by a complete description, an explanation of the calculation, an example, and cautions regarding its use.

URI Ref. HF5681 .R25 T45 2002

Temple Peter. Magic Numbers: The 33 Key Ratios That Every Investor Should Know. 2002.

Presents ratios related to stock performance, the income statement, the balance sheet, the cash flow statement, and risk, return, and volatility. For each ratio, provides a definition, formulas for calculating, an explanation of terms, where to find the data needed to calculate the ratio, and an example.

URI Ref. HF5657.4 .G38 1993

Gates, Sheldon. 101 Business Ratios: A Manager’s Handbook of Definitions, Equations, and Computer Algorithms. 1st ed. 1993.

“How to select, compute, present, and understand measures of sales, profit, debt, capital, efficiency, marketing, and investment.”

URI Ref. HF5681 .R25 T975 1992

Tyran, Michael R. The Vest-Pocket Guide to Business Ratios. 1992.

In a straightforward, question-and-answer format, the author explains how to calculate and interpret business ratios. Income statement ratios, balance sheet ratios, sales management ratios, cost analysis ratios and more are covered. An index allows the user to easily locate  information about a particular ratio.

URI Ref. HF5681 .R25 W347 2003

Walsh, Ciaran. Key Management Ratios. 2003.

Part I provides a background to financial statements, balance sheet terms, and profit and loss. Parts II through V present ratios for operating performance, liquidity, corporate value, and other measures. Definitions, key ideas, and examples are provided, while diagrams make concepts and calculations easier to understand.

URI Ref. Z675 .B8 R334 1996

Buchanan, Ann L., ed. R³ = Ratios, Ratings & Reference. 1996.

Published by the Business and Reference Services Section of the American Library Association’s Reference and User Services Association. Chapters include “The Uses and Abuses of Financial Ratios,” “The Credit Rating Process,” and “Ratios, Ratings, & Reference.” The final chapter is a bibliography of guides to business ratios, such as those listed here, and sources of industrial ratios by industry.

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A.S. Turyn 6/80; rev. J.B. Etchingham/S. Carlisle 6/83;
J.B. Etchingham 5/87; A. Rathemacher 5/97, 9/98, 9/03, 11/03, 5/04.