[Editor's note: Peter rewrote this article after a reader pointed out he over-engineered his original solution. ("What can I say: The code worked -- I just didn't need nearly as much code as I thought ...

Morningstar Quantitative Ratings for Stocks are generated using an algorithm that compares companies that are not under analyst coverage to peer companies that do receive analyst-driven ratings.

Katrina Ávila Munichiello is an experienced editor, writer, fact-checker, and proofreader with more than fourteen years of experience working with print and online publications. Core plus is an ...