Stock screeners are a must have for any investor. These tools have filters and criteria to help you narrow down your choices. Yahoo Finance has a stock screener where you can sift through hundreds of thousands of stocks in no time and many basic investment tools, data and reports are free.
When you use a stock screener you’ll see various fields to enter your preferences. These usually include market cap, price to earnings ratio, dividend yield and other financial metrics. Yahoo Finance has different features and user experience than other investment sites. Make sure to set your parameters to your investment strategy but remember to be flexible with your criteria sometimes hidden gems can be found. As you get more comfortable with stock screening you’ll figure out which metrics are most important to your investment approach.
What is Yahoo Finance Stock Screener?
The Yahoo Finance Stock Screener is a powerful tool to filter and search for stocks based on many criteria. Whether you’re looking at market cap, sector, industry or financials, this screener will give you a list of stocks that match your criteria. By using this tool investors can find potential investments and make informed decisions. Yahoo Finance has thousands of stocks to choose from so you can find the ones that fit your strategy.
Key Features and Functionality
The Yahoo Finance Stock Screener has many features for both new and experienced investors. One of the best features is the advanced filtering. You can filter by market cap, sector, industry, dividend yield and more. This level of customization allows you to set your search to your specific investment goals.
Another feature is the ability to create and save custom screens. You can set up your criteria once and reuse them, save time and effort in your research. The screener also has real time data on stock prices, trading volumes and other market metrics so you have the most up to date information at your fingertips.
Besides real time data the screener has detailed financial data, balance sheets, income statements and cash flow statements. This financial data helps you to do a deep dive on potential investments. For those who are technical analysis fans the screener has charts and indicators to help you analyze stock trends and patterns. With these features Yahoo Finance Stock Screener has everything you need to make informed decisions.
Choose Your Stock Screener
Before you start stock analysis you need to choose the right screener for your goals. Creating a Yahoo Finance account gives you access to portfolio tracking, account management and premium insights. Yahoo Finance has several to choose from.
For equity analysis use the stock screener to filter and analyze individual stocks. If you’re looking for diversified investments try the mutual fund or ETF screeners. Traders focused on market indices or commodities can use the futures and index screeners.
As you get more comfortable save custom screeners to speed up your research process. This will allow you to enter your favorite criteria and filters. By choosing the right tool you’ll be better equipped to find investments that fit your specific needs and risk tolerance.
Screening Categories
When using Yahoo Finance’s stock screener you’ll see several categories to filter. First select your region, this allows you to focus on stocks from specific countries. This is useful if you’re looking at US stocks or international markets.
Next select market cap. You can choose from small, mid, large or mega cap stocks. This will often reflect your investment strategy:
- Small and mid cap: Higher growth, higher risk
- Large and mega cap: Generally more stable, lower risk
Price is another important one. Set your minimum and maximum share price to fit your budget and investment goals. You can use “greater than”, “less than” or “between” specific price points.
Finally filter by sector and industry. Sectors group related industries together, industries are more specific. For example:
Sector Industries Healthcare Hospitals, Pharmaceuticals, Medical Devices Technology Software, Hardware, Semiconductors
By choosing these categories you’ll get a more targeted list of stocks that fit your investment criteria. This will speed up your research and find hidden gems in the market.
Stock Filters for Selection
Share Metrics
Share statistics will give you valuable information about a stock’s performance and valuation. Price to earnings (P/E) ratio is one of them. For conservative investments look for P/E under 15, for growth stocks up to 40. Be careful of stocks with P/E above 40 or those with negative earnings.
When using stock screeners set a minimum P/E of 1 and a maximum of 15-40 depending on your investment strategy. This will help you find fairly priced stocks with positive earnings.
For more aggressive strategies you can search for overvalued stocks by setting a minimum P/E of 100. Or look for stocks with negative earnings (maximum P/E of 0) to find short selling candidates.
Revenue, Profitability and Balance Sheets Metrics
Revenue and profit metrics will give you an idea of a company’s financial health. When looking at stocks look at total revenue and profit margins.
Total revenue can be filtered by absolute values or growth percentages. For example you can look for companies with annual sales over $1 billion or those that have grown revenue by at least 10% year over year.
Profit margin, also known as Net Income Margin %, is the percentage of revenue that becomes profit. A higher profit margin means a more efficient and profitable company. When screening you can set a minimum profit margin of 20% and a maximum of 100%.
Some screeners allow you to see average metrics over 3-5 years to get a better picture of a company’s performance.
Value Metrics
Value investors use specific ratios to find undervalued stocks:
- Price-to-Sales Ratio (PSR):
- Target PSR of 1
- Minimum 0 and maximum 3 in your screener
- PEG Ratio:
- P/E divided by earnings growth rate
- PEG under 1 means undervalued
- Maximum 1 in your screener
- Return on Investment (ROI):
- Average 5-year ROI
- Minimum 10% with no maximum
Income and Corporate Actions
For income investors dividend metrics are important. Look at:
- Dividend Per Share (DPS): Amount of dividend paid per share
- Dividend Yield: Annual dividend as a percentage of stock price
Use these filters to find stocks that fit your income criteria. Higher yields may mean better income but check the sustainability of the dividend payments.
Stock splits can also impact share price and liquidity. Not directly related to company performance but can impact investor sentiment and trading patterns.
Corporate Responsibility Factors
Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) scores are important to many investors. These metrics measure a company’s performance in:
- Environmental impact and sustainability practices
- Social responsibility and employee relations
- Corporate governance and ethical business practices
You can use ESG filters to match your investments to your values or to find companies with strong non-financial metrics.
When using stock screeners remember these filters are just tools to narrow down your options. Always do your research on individual stocks before making a decision. Consider market trends, competitive landscape and your personal risk tolerance when building your portfolio.
Technical Analysis Indicators
Technical analysis can be useful for stock screening if you’re a short-term trader. By using various indicators you can see potential price movements and market trends.
Moving averages are part of technical analysis. You might want to screen for stocks above their 20-day moving average which means short-term strength. For a longer term perspective the 200-day moving average can give you insight into the overall trend.
The Relative Strength Index (RSI) is another indicator to use for stock screening. This measures whether a stock is overbought or oversold. An RSI above 70 means a stock is overbought and due for a drop. An RSI below 30 means a stock is oversold and due for a bounce.
When using RSI in your stock screen, set a max of 50 and min of 0 if you’re looking to buy. For short selling set a min of 70 with no max.
Volume is part of technical analysis. High volume means big price moves, low volume means lack of conviction in the current trend.
Some stock screeners have a heatmap view which gives you a quick visual of the market sectors or individual stocks. This can help you see where the hotspots are at a glance.
When using technical analysis in stock screening remember no single indicator should be used in isolation. Use multiple indicators to get a more complete picture of a stock.
Technical analysis is just one part of stock evaluation. Combine it with fundamental analysis to get the full picture.
User Experience and Reviews
Users of the Yahoo Finance Stock Screener have given it high marks for ease of use and data. Many investors like the comprehensive nature of the screener and being able to access a lot of data and customize their searches to their needs. The ability to save custom screens is a big plus as it saves time in research.
But some users have said it’s a bit overwhelming for beginners with all the data and options. Overall though the consensus is the Yahoo Finance Stock Screener is a great tool for investors and traders, easy to use and lots of features to help with research.
Data Reliability and Sources
The Yahoo Finance Stock Screener’s data is backed by data from multiple sources including stock exchanges, financial databases and news providers. So the data you get is comprehensive and up to date. The data is updated in real-time so you get the latest stock prices, trading volumes and financial metrics.
While Yahoo Finance data is reliable, always do your own due diligence. Cross check with other sources like financial news and other financial data providers like Google Finance to verify the data. This is important to make informed decisions and to make sure the data you base your investments on is accurate and current.
Rating: ★★★★
