Last Updated: 27 Oct 2023 Views: 6179 (After reading, tell us below if this answer was helpful)

Where can I find credit ratings for a particular company?


Consider Fame (UK/Ireland only)S&P Capital IQ ProLSEG Refinitiv Workspace and Bloomberg for credit ratings of companies. Some of these platforms are limited to current credit ratings and specific ratings agencies.

Contents:

 

Current credit ratings only

Fame

  • In Fame, you can view the current and previous credit score for each UK or Ireland company, powered by CRIF Decision Solutions (or similar).
  • You can add these as columns when searching multiple companies.

 

LSEG Refinitiv Workspace web (or desktop)

  • In LSEG Refinitiv Workspace web (or desktop), search for the company name you are interested.
  • In the horizontal menu, hover over 'Debt & Credit' and click on one of the items below it such as 'Combined Credit Risk'. 
  • You will find ratings for the company issued by rating agencies such as S&P and Moody (but not Fitch).
  • You can use the Screener app to search for ratings for a list of companies. Use data items such as ‘Credit SmartRatios Implied Rating’ (TR.CreditRatioImpliedRating) and ‘Credit Combined Implied Rating’ (TR.CreditComboImpliedRating).

 

Bloomberg

  • In Bloomberg, you can get the current ratings for one company at a time in the terminal, or multiple companies with the Excel add-in. 
  • Search for an example company you are interested in then type 'FLDS' [Enter] to load the 'Field Search' app. Under 'Search for Fields', click in the amber field and type 'sp credit' or similar to view credit ratings fields which show values, for example, 'RTG_SP_LT_LC_ISSUER_CREDIT' is the S&P LT [Long Term] Local Currency Issuer Credit Rating.
  • Use this mnemonic (code) in an Excel formula. For example, if you have a ticker or ISIN code followed by " Equity" in A2, type this formula in B2: =BDP($A2, "RTG_SP_LT_LC_ISSUER_CREDIT")

Bloomberg Excel formula for credit rating

 

 

Historical credit ratings

S&P Capital IQ Pro (web version) (RatingsDirect)

  • In Capital IQ Pro, search for the individual company you are interested in. When you type the name or code of the company in the search bar at the top of the screen, look out for a red icon with the letters RD. This means there is RatingsDirect content for the company.
  • The RatingsDirect data are integrated with the company profile pages. When viewing an individual company, use the left-side menu bar to find the various pages. Look for 'Source: S&P Global Ratings' on a page to inform you that the source is RatingsDirect, rather than S&P Capital IQ or SNL Financial.
  • Use the 'RatingsDirect' main menu to study 'S&P Ratings Research', to search for full analyst reports, or 'S&P Ratings Coverage' as a quick screening tool for rated companies. You can get the credit rating history for a list of companies here. 
  • Use the 'Screener' app (in the 'Apps' main menu) to do a full screening for rated and unrated companies. You have more filter options here and get get the credit rating history.

 

S&P Capital IQ Pro (Excel version) (RatingsDirect)

  • You can pull credit ratings and credit adjusted information using the S&P Capital IQ Pro Excel add-in. S&P Global tells us that figures available on the dashboards of the Capital IQ Pro website can also be retrieved from Excel.

 

LSEG Refinitiv Workspace via Excel

  • In LSEG Refinitiv Workspace via Excel, you can get historical Refinitiv issuer rating. If you have an ISIN code (in cell A2), use this formula (in cell B2):  =@RDP.Data($A2,"TR.IssuerRating","CODE=ISIN SDate=Y2016")
  • Change the year as required. You could put the year in the column header (eg cell B1 has "Y2016") and use a cell reference: =@RDP.Data($A2,"TR.IssuerRating","SDate=#1 CODE=ISIN ",,$B$1)
  • If you have PermID or RIC, you can delete the "CODE=ISIN" part.

Workspace Excel formula for credit rating history

 

Bloomberg

  • In Bloomberg, you can get the historical ratings for one company at a time in the terminal. 
  • Search for the company you are interested in then type 'CRPR' [Enter] to load the 'Credit Profile' app. You will find Moody's, S&P and Egan-Jones ratings (long term, short term, local/foreign issuer). 

 

S&P Credit Ratings via WRDS

  • In S&P Credit Ratings via WRDS, you can search for quarterly credit ratings for a list of companies using their 6-digit CUSIP code, Capital IQ Company ID or GVKEY.
  • Look under 'Compustat - Capital IQ' then 'Capital IQ'.
  • If you have CIK or ISIN codes, you need to first convert them to Capital IQ Company ID using the Capital IQ Identifiers tool in WRDS.
  • This replaces the S&P credit ratings fields in SDC Platinum and Refinitiv Eikon/Workspace.
  • (Available until 31 March 2024.)

 

Learn more about credit ratings from the Corporate Finance Institute.