Stock Screener
An analytical tool that filters stocks based on financial metrics and other criteria to identify investment candidates.
What is Stock Screener?
A stock screener is an analytical tool that allows investors to filter a universe of publicly traded stocks based on quantitative financial metrics, fundamental ratios, technical indicators, or other criteria in order to identify securities that meet predefined investment parameters. Investors use screeners to narrow thousands of stocks down to a manageable shortlist for further analysis. Common screening criteria include market capitalization, P/E ratio, dividend yield, earnings growth rate, debt-to-equity ratio, and price momentum. Stock screeners are offered free by financial data platforms such as Finviz, Yahoo Finance, and Morningstar, and are also built into most major brokerage platforms.
Example
A dividend-focused investor uses a stock screener to filter the S&P 500 for companies with a P/E ratio below 18, dividend yield above 3%, EPS growth above 5% over the past five years, and a debt-to-equity ratio below 1.0. The screen narrows the 500-stock index down to 22 candidates for further fundamental analysis.