Last Updated on September 22, 2023 by BFSLTeam BFSLTeam
Table of Content
Introduction
Stock screeners serve as indispensable tools for traders and investors, allowing them to segregate stocks based on user-defined criteria. These screeners are typically available for a subscription fee on well-known trading platforms and websites. They empower users to select trading instruments that align with specific profiles or criteria. For example, traders and investors can utilise stock screeners to filter stocks based on market capitalization, price, P/E ratio, 52-week price change percentage, dividend yield, average five-year return on investment, and average trading volume, among other factors. This explains Stock Screener meaning.
Where to Find Stock Screeners
Certain trading software and platforms offer the capability to filter stocks based on technical indicators. For instance, users can employ these screeners to identify stocks trading above their 200-day moving averages or those falling within specific Relative Strength Index (RSI) ranges.
Also Read: Positional Trading Strategy
Exploring Stock Screeners
Stock screeners are widely embraced by investors seeking stocks with long-term growth potential. Active traders leverage these tools to spot potential short-term trading opportunities. Users have the flexibility to apply multiple filters, with the number of displayed stocks decreasing as more filters are applied. Stock screeners enable investors and users to efficiently analyse numerous stocks in a short timeframe. This facilitates the identification and exclusion of stocks that do not meet the criteria defined by an investor or user, allowing them to focus on instruments that align with their predefined metrics.
Moreover, stock screeners can aid users in refining their trading strategies. Effective trade entries and exits must adhere to specific rules, including entry ticket size, stock filters, and predefined price triggers, among other considerations. Past data, such as earnings, estimates, and technical indicators, can be harnessed to project future performance.
Utilising Stock Screeners: A Comprehensive Exploration
Stock screeners serve as invaluable tools with a multitude of applications, simplifying the stock selection process and enhancing investment decision-making. Here, we delve into the diverse uses and advantages of stock screeners:
1. Customised Stock Selection: Perhaps the most common use of a stock screener is to curate a tailored list of stocks that align with the user’s specific requirements and preferences. Evaluating every available stock individually can be a laborious and time-consuming endeavour. Stock screeners, however, streamline this process by swiftly sifting through vast datasets to identify stocks that meet user-defined criteria. This saves investors considerable time and effort.
2. Real-Time Data Updates: Stock screeners provide users with the benefit of real-time data updates. In the fast-paced world of financial markets, having access to current information is paramount for informed investment decisions. These screeners ensure that users have access to the most up-to-date market data, helping them stay ahead in the dynamic landscape of stock trading.
3. Screen Saving Feature: Many stock screeners offer a screen-saving feature, allowing users to store and revisit their customised screens for future reference. This functionality proves invaluable for investors who wish to track specific stock criteria over time. It ensures that opportunities are not missed, even if they were previously unaware of them.
4. Objective Decision-Making: By presenting stocks based on objective criteria, stock screeners promote rational and unemotional decision-making. Users are shielded from making impulsive choices driven by personal bias, product familiarity, or stock popularity. Instead, the screener emphasises alignment with the user’s predefined criteria, enhancing the quality of investment decisions.
Example of Stock Screener in Action
To illustrate the practical application of a stock screener, consider a fundamental investor seeking opportunities in the Indian stock market. The investor uses a stock screener with the following criteria:
- Selects India as the country of interest.
- Chooses specific sectors for investment, such as the auto sector, banking sector, textile sector, and hospitality.
- Sets a price target of Rs. 30 per share or below.
- Filters for stocks offering a dividend yield of 5% or higher.
The result is a filtered list of stocks displayed on the screen, meeting all these specified criteria. These stocks belong to the chosen sectors, are priced within the desired range, and offer an attractive dividend yield.
Benefits of Stock Screeners in Depth
Stock screeners are formidable tools in the realm of investing, offering a host of advantages that can significantly enhance your investment decision-making process. Let’s delve into these advantages more comprehensively:
1. Time-Saving Efficiency:
The stock market boasts an extensive array of stocks, yet the data available in stock screening databases often only covers a fraction of them. Depending on the database, this data collection may encompass dozens to thousands of equities. For most investors, conducting a thorough analysis of each of these stocks would be a monumental undertaking. Examining financial statements, ratios, multiples, and assessing potential for future growth for every single stock would be exceedingly time-consuming.
Stock screeners come to the rescue by swiftly sifting through this vast pool of data. They allow you to define specific criteria, and then, based on these criteria, generate a list of stocks that meet your requirements. This time-saving feature is invaluable, ensuring that you can efficiently identify potential investment opportunities without drowning in data overload.
2. Mitigating Behavioural Biases:
Behavioural biases are inherent in human decision-making and can have a profound impact on investment choices. These biases are often difficult to recognize and resist, leading to erroneous financial decisions that can erode profits over time. For instance, investors might deviate from their investment plan to accommodate certain stocks, convincing themselves to buy a stock with a high price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio or insufficient revenue growth.
Stock screeners act as a safeguard against such biases. They operate by eliminating stocks that fail to meet your predetermined criteria, presenting you with a curated list of stocks that align with your preferences. Tightening the screening parameters further refines the selection, ensuring that only the most relevant stocks make the cut. For example, if you prioritise value over growth, you can use the screener to identify companies with a P/E ratio below a specific threshold. By removing subjective biases, stock screeners help investors maintain objectivity in their decision-making process.
However, it’s essential to note that while stock screeners reduce biases significantly, they may not entirely shield investors from all behavioural inclinations, as users can adjust screening criteria to fit their preferences.
3. Discovering Untapped Opportunities:
A compelling advantage of stock screeners is their ability to unearth investment possibilities that may have otherwise gone unnoticed. These tools provide access to a comprehensive database of stocks, including lesser-known or underappreciated options. In markets with thousands of stocks, some gems may be overlooked by the mainstream.
Savvy investors leveraging stock screening tools have the potential to identify these hidden opportunities. By sifting through vast datasets efficiently, stock screeners empower users to discover stocks they might not have encountered otherwise. This capability to uncover fresh investment prospects can be a valuable asset, particularly in markets where lesser-known stocks may be undervalued or under analysed.
Conclusion
In conclusion, stock screeners are versatile instruments that streamline the investment selection process, enhance objectivity, and open doors to untapped investment opportunities. Their efficiency in managing vast datasets and aligning with user-defined criteria makes them an indispensable tool for investors of all levels of expertise.
