How to Use a Stock Screener

A stock screener is a very useful tool that helps traders to find new potential stocks for consideration. You can use stock screener to search stocks that meet a specific criteria such as Market Cap, Beta (Volatility), etc.

The Yahoo Finance website has a stock screener that allows you to sort through many stocks quickly under different conditions. You can use it to search stocks by industry, index membership, share data (including market cap, price, dividend yield, beta), sales and profitability, valuation ratios, and analyst estimates.

Alternatively you can use the free Google stock screener to search stocks by any set of criteria such as:
- Market Capitalization
- P/E Ratio
- Dividend Yield (%)
- 52 week price change (%)
- Interest coverage
- Return on assets (%)
- Return on investment (%)
- Total debt/assets (%)
- Net profit margin (%)
- Operating margin (%)
- Price to sales
- Quote change (%)
and many more.

Example 1:
To find the best dividend yield stocks, you can select the criteria of "percentage dividend yield" of three percent or more. Research stocks that meet the criteria you specify and purchase them.

Example 2:
If you want to find a large company that pays high dividends, you can setup your screener with these parameters: Market Capitalization: $10 billion or more; Dividend: 8% per annum or more.

* Next: How To Find Stocks With High Dividends

Author

Kelvin Wong Loke Yuen is an experienced writer with a strong background in finance, specializing in the creation of informative and engaging content on topics such as investment strategies, financial ratio analysis, and more. With years of experience in both financial writing and education, Kelvin is adept at translating complex financial concepts into clear, accessible language for a wide range of audiences. Follow him on: LinkedIn.

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