Clean Energy by the Numbers: Data Sources

According to Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the UN Climate Convention, “Never before have the risks of climate change been so obvious and the impacts so visible.” We could add that never before has there been such an interest in sources of information for climate change, energy use and “clean” (non-polluting)  technology.

 

 

In a previous blog post, Clean, Green, and Renewable Energy.  Are there any Alternatives? we described several  resources for  Penn students that cover clean technology. Here are some additional data sources on clean technology that may prove useful.

What’s it worth to you? Company Valuation Resources

Contributors:  Cynthia L. Cronin-Kardon and Mia Wells

Valuation is used in business to determine the price participants are willing to pay or receive to buy or sell a business. Needless to say, the seller is looking to make as much profit on the deal as possible while the buyer hopes to pay as little as possible. Various resources can help determine the best price for the transaction. Listed below are some Lippincott Library resources to help students with assignments for a number of Wharton courses including FNCE207/728 – Corporate Valuation (which also has a course guide); FNCE250/750 – Venture Capital & the Finance of Innovation; and FNCE251/751 – Finance of Buyouts & Acquisitions.

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Comparable Deals
You’ll want to search for precedent transactions in the industry of the company you are valuing. Several sources allow you to search for comps by industry (SIC code, NAICS code, or alphabetically by name).

BizComps is a database of business sale statistics which are based on small business sales transaction data. After searching by SIC or NAICS code, you’ll be presented with a list of recent deals. Select those of interest and you can run a “Transaction Analysis,” which will give summary statistics/multiples on the deals you’ve chosen. Ask to be logged in by a librarian at our Reference Desk.

 

Business Valuations by Industry is a print source available at Lippincott Library Reference Desk (call number HG4028.V3 B78). It includes detailed studies of actual mergers and acquisitions, including deal “tearsheets”. This source is arranged by industry and includes actual transactions from 2007 through 2009. Profiles of buyers are included as well as some some foreign transactions and deal terminations. This is a great resource when you want to profile selected, covered deals.

 

 

 

Betas
Beta measure the volatility of an industry or company within the market as a whole. Betas help to calculate the risk of an investment.

For industry betas, use the Ibbotson SBBI Valuation Yearbook, a print guide held at our Reference Desk (call number HG4028.V3 S86).

 

Company betas are in Bloomberg, available in the Yablon Financial Resources Lab here in Lippincott, or the Forum level of Huntsman Hall. Search for a company of interest and run the Beta function by typing BETA <Go>.

 

 

Best practices
It’s always smart to look to the experts for advice – these sources will give you tips and tricks when performing a valuation for a company within a certain industry.

Business Reference Guide is a print source located at Lippincott Library Reference Desk (HD1393.25 .B87). This source provides several types of information which can be used for pricing businesses and franchises.  It is organized by industry and includes industry statistics from IBISWorld, “rules of thumb” by industry analysts, pricing tips, benchmarks, commentary, expenses as a percentage of annual sales and industry costs.

 

 

Standard & Poor’s Net Advantage provides industry surveys. One unique feature of this source the section included for every industry on “How to Analyze a Company in this

Industry”. To access this, click on Industries, select the survey of interest. Next scroll to the chapter titled, “How to Analyze a(n) […] Company,” which also contains a section on Equity Valuation as well as a glossary of industry terminology.

 

 

 

Company multiples
To track multiples of a company over time, use the sources listed below. This will help you price out the company itself or help you to compare it against a similar firm.

S&P Capital IQ provides lots of financial data including multiples. MBAs can access CapIQ via MBA Career Management, while Wharton undergraduates can come to the Yablon Financial Resources Lab and ask to be logged in by a librarian. Search for a public company of interest and look for Financials/Valuation in the left menu. You can change the date range to see multiples over time, as well.

 

Bloomberg is available in the Yablon Financial Resources Lab or the Forum level of Huntsman Hall. Search for a company of interest and run the Financial Analysis function by typing FA <Go>. Look for the Enterprise Value tab.

 

Past M&A deal tearsheets
You may find it helpful to look for past deals to get a sense of how many deals a company has done in the past, what were the specifics of a deal or how active the M&A market is in a certain industry.

Thomson ONE – note that this resource only loads with full functionality when using Internet Explorer. Once inside, scroll over Screening & Analysis, then Deals & League Tables, then M&A to select either a Quick Search or Advanced Search.

Zephyr – select Zephyr Advanced. Pick the variables to define your search. Below is a screenshot of a list of deals. You can click on any of these to get a detailed summary of the deal.

This post may have additional information – What’s the Deal? Researching Specific M&A Deals

 

 

 

 

MSCR – Bloomberg’s Municipal Bond Screening Function

Bloomberg’s MSCR function allows you to search a file of more than a million outstanding municipal bonds based on criteria of your choice.

The main search screen shows a search for bonds issued by Philadelphia institutions of higher education.

The spreadsheet below gives a page of the resulting list using the default headings. A 154.75 million dollar bond by the University of Pennsylvania is highlighted. Clicking on a row in the spreadsheet allows the display of additional bond details.

The first page of a description of the Penn Bond is shown.

The columns in the output can be edited. For example, for a spreadsheet showing the bonds issued by municipalities with a Moody’s rating of below investment grade (Ba1 to C) we would want a column showing the Moody rating associated with each bond.  Search variables are not automatically added as columns in the display. To add a column or columns, follow this sequence:

Actions => Edit => Display

Choose variables wanted and click APPLY

For more on Bloomberg’s functions, take a look at the blogs in our Bloomberg category and our Bloomberg Help Guide.

Put our Services to the Test

Welcome to Lippincott and the start of a new academic year!  We have a number of services to help make your life at Penn a lot easier.  Some of these services are described here.

 

DOCUMENT DELIVERY. Available to MBAs,  PhD candidates and Faculty. Please send an email to docdel@wharton.upenn.edu to request articles and book chapters. Include the full citation for the fastest reply.

BUSINESS FAQ.  Your 24/7 librarian. Search by keyword to find resources on your topic such as financial ratios, consumer demographics, analyst reports and many more.

RESEARCH ASSISTANCE.  Email us, chat, call us at 215-898-5924 or contact a subject specialist on your topic. Ask for a Consultation for yourself or your team. We know where to find the academic resources that you need.

WHARTON LAB COMPUTERS AND PRINTERS.  Too crowded over at Wharton?  Come over to Lippincott and use the Wharton Lab Computers here.  These computers are reserved for Wharton students and have all the same programs and features that are available on Wharton computers.  Sign in using your Wharton account information.

GROUP STUDY ROOMS.  Have a team project or group presentation?  Reserve a room  for your meeting.  Some rooms are larger and can accomodate up to 12 people.

YABLON FINANCIAL RESOURCES LAB.  Bloomberg and Capital IQ are at your fingertips.  Log in with your Wharton account information.  First time you use Bloomberg, create your own account.  Librarians log you into Capital IQ.

 

 

DATAPOINTS is the Lippincott Library’s blog. Follow us to learn tricks and tips about Bloomberg and many other Library databases.  Look for postings on new Library resources.  See this post, for example: Top 10 Resources for MBAs .

WORKSHOPS.  Wednesdays are Bloomberg days.  Every week we provide Bloomberg training from 3:30 – 4:30 in the Yablon Financial Resources Lab.  You can register here: Business Workshops.   It’s hands-on so be sure to come a few minutes early to create your own Bloomberg account.

We also offer other workshops on Job Search, Company Information and Business Research Skills.  See the training schedule to find out what workshops are being offered. Registration is recommended.

RESEARCH TO GO.  Every Monday -Thursday we come to you.  Reference Librarians are available from 12:30 – 1:30 in Huntsman Hall 251.  Drop in and get fast answers to your job search or research questions.

TEXT BOOKS.  Available for many Wharton courses at the Lippincott Reserve Desk.  Most can be checked out for three hours and used in the Library.

 

SUBJECT/COURSE GUIDES.  Subject Specialist have prepared Guides by subject area or course.  Use these to find resources for your projects and assignments.  Contact a Specialist for additional information.

FRANKLIN is the Library Catalog.  Use this to search for books, journals, videos and more.

MARK’S CAFE.  Food.  Drink.  Comfort.

Take advantage of the services available to you.  Hope to see you soon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bloomberg’s PE: A Major Database for Private Equity

Private equity consists of firms and funds that make investments directly into private companies or conduct buyouts of public companies. Private equity, as the name implies, is not traded on public equity exchanges.

Bloomberg’s Private Equity (PE) database brings together data about PE firms, funds, investors and portfolios. In Bloomberg, type PE <GO> for this menu:

 

 

Search by Firm – Private equity firms are the general partners controlling the operations of the firm.

Search by Fund – Private equity firms direct their investments through one or more funds. Funds are associated with a specific investment strategy.  Venture Capital Funds, for example, are investments in startup firms and small businesses with perceived long-term growth potential. Here is a breakdown of the funds worldwide associated with a specific strategy that is available in Bloomberg.

Strategy           Percent of Total

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• Venture              28%
• Buyout               25%
• Growth                9%
• Debt                    8%
• Fund of Funds   10%
• Real Estate        13%
• Other                   8%

Search by Limited Partners – Limited partners are the source of investment funds. They include public and corporate pension funds, insurance companies, endowments, high net worth individuals, and sovereign wealth funds

Search by Deal – Deals can be classified as M&A investment, Joint venture, Spinoff, and Buyback, and then further sub classified as a PE buyout, Infrastructure, Real Asset, Real Estate, Secondary Transaction, or Venture Capital deal. Venture Capital deals include possible subdivisions into Seed, Angel, or Series (A to J).

The screen below shows a search for all PE deals in the past year that had targets in the alternative energy industry.

 

Search by Private Company – Bloomberg lists more than 15,000 companies in which PE firms invest.

• Clicking on the name of the company will display a record giving the name(s) of the PE firms which include the company in their portfolio, as well as additional information about the company. The record for U.S. Foods, for example, will show that it is held by KKR 2006 Fund.

In addition to its list of PE backed private companies, Bloomberg includes a database of 1.3 million private companies worldwide that are not PE backed.

Other useful features of Bloomberg’s PE include Funds in Market, which gives aggregate statistics by strategy, and Benchmarking and Fund Comparison, which allow the comparison of funds by such features as IRR (internal rate or return).

Take a look also at Bloomberg’s weekly Private Equity Brief

In addition to Bloomberg, the Penn Libraries have several additional databases that provide details of private equity activity. They include Thomson ONE, S&P Capital IQ (available at Lippincott in the Yablon Financial Resources Lab) , Preqin, and CB-Insights.

Also see our Research Guide:  Venture Capital and Private Equity.

For more information on Bloomberg see our Bloomberg Help Guide and additional posts in Datapoints under the Category:  Bloomberg.

Bloomberg Live Help Discontinued

If you’ve spent time on a Bloomberg terminal you know that it contains vast amounts of information. With so much complexity, it is difficult for one person to know all of the database’s facets. This is where Bloomberg’s excellent Help features come in. Until recently, Bloomberg offered a live chat service, which students/staff/faculty could use to chat with a Bloomberg representative in real time. This live chat service was useful for locating data outside of one’s area of expertise.

As of March 2014, Bloomberg discontinued its live chat service <Help> <Help> for academic clients. Corporate clients and those with billable terminals will still have access to the 24/7 Live Chat service. If you use Bloomberg this summer at an internship, you will most likely have access to the live help feature.

Now, when you hit the help key twice, you can submit a question to the Bloomberg Help Desk. A response will come within one business day to both your Bloomberg account and to the university email that you provide. Type HDSK <GO> to access your Bloomberg email account. If you hit Help only one time, a separate window opens to a detailed manual that provides assistance with usage, instructions, definitions and calculations for the specific page you are on.

While the turnaround time is no longer instant, the Bloomberg Help Desk puts a positive spin on things by noting that the email service will allow users to receive the detailed and considered response that these complex questions often require. While we have not yet tried out this service, based on our previous positive experiences with the Help Desk, we can only assume good things.

As always, a good place to start if you are stuck, is to ask one of the librarians at the Lippincott Reference Desk. Also, take advantage of the other Bloomberg Help features on the terminal. See also our Bloomberg Help Guide for assistance.

Bloomberg Cuts through the Government Contract Maze

Bloomberg’s Government Spending module <BGS> is an important new tool designed to measure the effect of US contracts on a company’s outlook. Based on data from the 500 largest US Federal Government contract holders, the module displays prime contract orders for a company based on obligations posted by U.S. Federal Agencies. Details provided include key statistics, contract portfolio analysis, peer comparisons and quarterly trends.

To get access, type the ticker symbol into the command line, hit the Equity key, type BGS and hit Go. To search for Boeing’s US Government Contracts for example:

 BA US <EQUITY>  BGS  <GO>    

The tabs on the Overview Table allow the examination of different aspects of a company’s contracts. The “Contract Analysis” tab, for example, lists Boeing’s individual Government Contracts by their value, Government Agency, and start and end dates.

For a list of the companies receiving US Government Contracts, type:

 BGSD <Go>

For more information on doing business with the U.S. Government and with individual states, see this FAQ.

 

A League Table of Your Own

A League Table is a list of entities such as companies, teams, or individuals, ranked in order of achievement. In business, league tables most often refer to a list of investment banks ranked on the volume or value of such transactions as IPO’s or M&A deals. There are a very large number of combinations of league table variables (e.g. types of issues, country, time periods and currency). Here are descriptions of three financial databases that can help you construct a league table that fits your criteria.

(1) Bloomberg (available in Lippincott Library and Huntsman Hall)

Type LEAG and hit the green GO key.

The screen below is a list of investment banks ranked by amount of U.S. Bonds underwritten in 2013.

There are many customization options. Click on:

• Year (to choose dates from 1999 on)
• Period (to choose year, half year or quarter)
• Select a Market (to choose among markets for Debt, Equity, Structured Notes, and Syndicated Loans). You can also choose “custom markets” which will enable you to create a table based on detailed security, issuance and issuer data
• Related Functions (to choose among league tables for M&A, Legal Advisors, Clean Energy, Muni League, and to create a matrix table)
• View Ranks (to view a five year history and a detailed description of the table criteria)

Bloomberg also has hundreds of pre-formatted league tables with accompanying analysis. For a listing of these, type:

NI LEAG CRL and hit GO.

Bloomberg’s PAC-MAN: Tracking Company Campaign Contributions

Determining company and PAC (Political Action Committee) contributions to candidates is made easy with Bloomberg’s Campaign Finance module.

Type BGCF <GO>

Click to Enlarge

The series of screens below show the increasing detail available for election results by industry. The initial screen gives an industry sector breakdown showing the number of candidates who received at least $25,000 from individual company employees for each Sector ($25K+ Candidates) and the number of winning and losing candidates.

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Click to Expand

Clicking on a Sector will reveal the companies within the sector and their contributions.

Further detail is available at the company level showing individual candidate donation and external PAC recipients.

Use the left hand column of the initial screen (Monitor, Candidates, Donors PACS) to find information about specific companies and individuals. For example, to find contributions made by companies and PACS to individual Senators or Representatives, click on, for example, HOUSE (under the heading Candidates) and then on the name of a Representative. Search by company name to find donations by individual employees to candidates together with percentage of donation by party and office.

Bloomberg uses information supplied by the FEC – Federal Election Commission. Candidates for House and Senate are required to file with the FEC quarterly.

See our Business FAQ for other resources for corporate contributions to U.S. political parties.

Ten reasons to Use Bloomberg Templates for Company Analysis

In a recent post, we described Country Risk Assessment, the Bloomberg Excel Template that calculates country risk for 60 countries based on 25 financial, economic and political risk factors. This Template (XCRA) allows you to change the default risk settings and calculate country risk based on weights that you choose. This is just one of hundreds of Excel templates available in Bloomberg.

To search or browse for Bloomberg Templates by subject or keyword, type XLTP <GO>.

To access a specific Template, type XLTP followed by the code for the specific Template. For example, for the Template giving comparable valuation analysis, type:
XLTP XCVA <GO>. From the menu screen, click on OPEN to transfer the template to Excel. Below we give brief descriptions of ten templates that are useful for company analysis.

(1) XCVA – Comparable Valuation Analysis – side by side detailed analysis for multiple securities.

(2) XCSF – Company snapshot with financial analysis – provides company fundamentals, detailed earnings data, and peer group analysis.

(3) XIDA – In-depth company analysis – gives company fundamentals, estimates, and pricing data historically and in relation to peers.

(4) XBCS – Banks Comparison Sheet – compares a list of credit ratings, current market data, loan and capital details, profitability ratios, and asset quality.

(5) XIDF – In-depth finder – detailed view of financial statistics including profiles, ratios, capital structure, multiples, pensions, and segment analysis, annually, semi-annually, and quarterly. The screen below shows part of a Product and Geographic Segment analysis for ten years.