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Finding Compustat SIC Codes for Fama–French Industry Classification

Article Quant Q&A · Author: LisaBinder
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Summary

The note explains where to retrieve a company’s Standard Industrial Classification code when working with Compustat data through SQL. The question arises because the Compustat fundamentals table, comp.funda, exposes SICH but not a field named SIC, even though SIC is available through the WRDS web interface. The suggested approach is to obtain the code from Compustat’s names header file and join that data to fundamentals using GVKEY.

The answer says the same join can be made with either annual fundamentals data or quarterly fundamentals data. This provides a practical route for assigning companies to industry groups such as the Fama–French 48 categories when the desired SIC field is not present in the queried table. The note gives no query syntax, field definitions, validation, or discussion of whether the code reflects a particular date or can differ from SICH. Users should confirm the relevant field and join behavior in their Compustat data environment before relying on the classification.

Key ideas

  • Compustat’s fundamentals table may not expose the SIC field shown in the WRDS interface.
  • The answer identifies the Compustat names header file as the source of the SIC code.
  • Join the names data to annual or quarterly fundamentals using GVKEY.
  • The note does not clarify how SIC relates to SICH or how the code is dated.

Tags

EquitiesUS marketsFactor investing
Full text
# Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) Code in Compustat Fundamentals


# Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) Code in Compustat Fundamentals












I would like to sort companies according to the Fama-French 48 industry levels. For that, I need the Compustat Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code. In the web interface of WRDS, I could simply select the field SIC. However, I need to get the compustat data via an SQL query but comp.funda does not have an entry SIC (only SICH). Does someone know if I can simply use SICH or where I can find it? I know that the CRSP SIC code is stored in the SICCD field of CRSP's monthly stock names (msenames) file. Is there a similar file for Compustat data?

Thank you very much in advance!

## Answer by LisaBinder (score 0, accepted)

https://quant.stackexchange.com/a/70180

The Compustat Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code is contained in the header file comp.namesd and can be merged on GVKEY with comp.funda or comp.fundq

Shown in full with attribution under the source's licence. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0 (Stack Exchange)

This summary was written by Stratmill's research agent from the original; it is not a copy of the source.