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Business Plans: Financial Ratios

Ratio Information

Ratio analysis involves using numerical information from company financial statements to determine key relationships. Ratios for specific time periods may be evaluated against ratios from other time periods for both internal and external comparative purposes.

Ratio analysis can be used to assess risk, estimate value, document trends, and to conduct an evaluation of a company against similar companies in the same industry.

Common ratios included in ratio analysis are quick ratio, current ratio, earnings per share ratio, debt to equity ratio, and price-earnings ratio. To find out more information about these ratios or ratio analysis consult a financial dictionary or glossary, such as the resources on this page.

Beginning Your Research

When conducting any kind of company research you should have a few key pieces of information easily at hand. For each company you are researching consider locating:

  • the full company name
  • the ticker symbol (if the company is public)
  • the industry in which the company competes
  • the SIC and/or NAICS codes under which the company reports

Websites

Databases with Ratio Information

Books with Financial Ratios