Skip to content

Company Classification

EdgarTools automatically classifies every SEC entity across multiple dimensions: whether it is a domestic or foreign registrant, what kind of business it operates, and its regulatory filing status. These properties are derived from SEC data — SIC codes, state of incorporation, and filing history — so you rarely need to look anything up manually.

Filer Type: Domestic, Foreign, or Canadian

The filer_type property tells you where a company is incorporated. This matters for understanding which annual report form the company files: domestic companies file 10-K, foreign private issuers file 20-F, and Canadian issuers file 40-F.

from edgar import Company

Company("AAPL").filer_type   # 'Domestic'
Company("BABA").filer_type   # 'Foreign'
Company("CNQ").filer_type    # 'Canadian'

The is_foreign convenience property returns True for both Foreign and Canadian filers:

Company("BABA").is_foreign   # True
Company("CNQ").is_foreign    # True
Company("AAPL").is_foreign   # False

How filer type is determined

EdgarTools uses a two-stage approach:

  1. State of incorporation (preferred): The SEC stores a state or country code for each registered entity. A US state code means domestic; a country code from outside Canada means foreign; Canada codes mean Canadian.

  2. Filing history fallback: When the state of incorporation is absent, EdgarTools inspects the entity's recent filings. A 40-F signals Canadian; a 20-F or 6-K signals foreign; a 10-K or 10-Q signals domestic. Extended fallbacks cover ADR deposit registrations (F-6), foreign registration statements (F-1, F-3), and domestic-only forms like Regulation Crowdfunding (C).

Business Category

The business_category property classifies what kind of entity a company is. This is useful when building screens or analysis pipelines that should behave differently for, say, a bank versus a REIT versus an ordinary operating company.

from edgar import Company

Company("AAPL").business_category   # 'Operating Company'
Company("AGNC").business_category   # 'REIT'
Company("JPM").business_category    # 'Bank'
Company("MET").business_category    # 'Insurance Company'
Company("ARCC").business_category   # 'BDC'

Available categories

Category Description
Operating Company Standard corporation — the default for most SEC filers
REIT Real Estate Investment Trust (SIC 6798)
Bank Commercial banks and savings institutions
Insurance Company Life, casualty, title, and similar insurers
ETF Exchange-traded fund
Mutual Fund Open-end registered investment company
Closed-End Fund Closed-end registered investment company
BDC Business Development Company
Investment Manager Asset manager or institutional investment adviser
Holding Company Pure holding company (SIC 6719)
SPAC Blank check / special purpose acquisition company
Unknown Insufficient signals for classification

Convenience predicates

Three boolean methods let you check the broad category without pattern-matching strings:

company = Company("AAPL")

company.is_operating_company()      # True
company.is_fund()                   # False
company.is_financial_institution()  # False

company = Company("JPM")

company.is_operating_company()      # False
company.is_financial_institution()  # True  (Banks, Insurance, Investment Managers, BDCs)

company = Company("SPY")

company.is_fund()                   # True  (ETF, Mutual Fund, Closed-End Fund)

How business category is determined

Classification uses a priority chain:

  1. Definitive SIC codes: SIC 6798 → REIT; SIC 6770 → SPAC; SIC 6021–6036 → Bank; SIC 6311–6371 → Insurance Company.
  2. Investment company forms: Primary investment forms (N-CSR, NPORT-P) trigger fund classification; the name and entity type then distinguish ETF from Mutual Fund from Closed-End Fund.
  3. BDC signals: Operating entities that file N-2 forms or whose names contain "Capital Corp".
  4. Investment manager signals: Entities with SIC 6211 or 6282, or that file 13F-HR.
  5. Holding company: SIC 6719.
  6. Default: Operating Company.

Filer Category: SEC Accelerated Filer Status

The SEC requires companies above certain public float thresholds to file on accelerated timelines. The filer_category property captures this classification.

from edgar import Company

apple = Company("AAPL")

apple.is_large_accelerated_filer    # True  (public float >= $700M)
apple.is_accelerated_filer          # False
apple.is_smaller_reporting_company  # False
apple.is_emerging_growth_company    # False

For smaller companies:

# A hypothetical small-cap company
company = Company("BYFC")

company.is_non_accelerated_filer        # True  (public float < $75M)
company.is_smaller_reporting_company    # True  (public float < $250M or revenue < $100M)

Filer status thresholds

Status Public Float
Large Accelerated Filer >= $700 million
Accelerated Filer >= $75 million and < $700 million
Non-Accelerated Filer < $75 million

Two additional qualifications may apply alongside any base status:

  • Smaller Reporting Company (SRC): Public float below $250 million, or annual revenue below $100 million with no public float above $700 million. SRCs may use scaled disclosure requirements.
  • Emerging Growth Company (EGC): Revenue below $1.235 billion and IPO within the past five years. EGCs may defer certain accounting standards.

For the full FilerCategory object with enum access:

from edgar import Company
from edgar.enums import FilerStatus, FilerCategory

category = Company("AAPL").filer_category

category.status                     # FilerStatus.LARGE_ACCELERATED
str(category)                       # 'Large accelerated filer'
category.qualifications             # []
category.is_smaller_reporting_company  # False

Industry: SIC Code and Description

Every SEC registrant is assigned a Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code. EdgarTools exposes both the code and its human-readable description:

from edgar import Company

apple = Company("AAPL")
apple.sic        # 3571
apple.industry   # 'Electronic Computers'

jpm = Company("JPM")
jpm.sic          # 6022
jpm.industry     # 'State commercial banks-Federal Reserve members & state (non members)'

Entity vs. Individual

Not every SEC filer is a company. Insiders and beneficial owners file ownership forms (Forms 3, 4, 5 and Schedule 13D/G) as individuals. EdgarTools distinguishes these automatically:

from edgar import Company

Company("AAPL").is_company      # True
Company("AAPL").is_individual   # False

When you load an entity by CIK and that entity turns out to be a person rather than a company, is_individual returns True. This typically happens when looking up a CIK obtained from an ownership filing.

Classification uses a nine-signal priority chain: exchange listings, state of incorporation, entity type from SEC data, filing history, EIN, and name keywords. Companies with tickers or a state of incorporation are definitively classified as companies. Filers with only insider ownership forms in their history are classified as individuals.

Quick Reference

Property Type Returns
filer_type str \| None 'Domestic', 'Foreign', 'Canadian', or None
is_foreign bool True for Foreign or Canadian registrants
business_category str See business category table above
is_operating_company() bool True for standard operating companies
is_fund() bool True for ETF, Mutual Fund, or Closed-End Fund
is_financial_institution() bool True for Bank, Insurance, Investment Manager, or BDC
sic int \| None Standard Industrial Classification code
industry str \| None SIC description
filer_category FilerCategory Full parsed filer category object
is_large_accelerated_filer bool Public float >= $700M
is_accelerated_filer bool Public float >= $75M and < $700M
is_non_accelerated_filer bool Public float < $75M
is_smaller_reporting_company bool Qualifies as SRC
is_emerging_growth_company bool Qualifies as EGC
is_company bool True if the filer is a company
is_individual bool True if the filer is a person