how a rating works
analysts who work on both the buy side and sell side of the industry research stocks and write opinions on those stocks which will often include a rating such as buy hold or sell meanwhile bonds are rated by the three major bond rating agencies a company can improve its rating score by maintaining as little debt as possible and staying vigilant when sudden changes occur within the company types of ratingsanalysts on the buy side will write opinions for their teams for the purposes of informing portfolio management decisions analysts on the sell side will write opinions to educate others on their research and in an attempt to sell particular stocks on behalf of clients for a stock an analyst may assign a buy hold or sell rating and an explanation of why they recommend this action for the stock 