From Ken Little,
Your Guide to Stocks.
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Stock screeners are useful tools for sorting through literally thousands of companies to find a smaller number that match investment criteria you select.

There are many free stock screening tools available on the Internet (see list below). Investors can use them to narrow investment possibilities down to a manageable number of companies for further analysis.

Stock screens are not stock selection tools. They can’t pick winning stocks by themselves, however they can help you become a better investor by helping you stay focused on your particular goals. Screens are valuable for the companies they eliminate as well as the companies they select.

Use the Same

Most good stock screens have similar characteristics. Like anything else you find on the Web, some are easier to use than others are.

In addition to being easy to use, the screen should have a robust database of information on each company. At least five years history is the minimum for research purposes.

The screen should contain both absolute and relative information. That is, in addition to sales figures, the screen should show you what has the increase (or decrease) been year-to-year. Percent changes are often more telling than absolute numbers.

Preset Options

Many Web sites offer you the option of preset screens that have the parameters already built to screen for certain results (growth or value, for example).

These presets are helpful if you are just getting started in screens so you can see how variables are adjusted to get the desired result.

Using Ranges

The better screens will allow you to enter a range of values rather than a greater than or less than variable. For example, you may want to look for companies of a certain size.

Entering a range in the market cap field of between $3 and $5 billion will give you a much narrower result than entering less than $5 billion market cap, which will give you all companies down to the smallest listed on the exchanges.

Conclusion

The better stock screens offer a significant database, presets, relative as well as absolute numbers and flexibility in entering parameters.

Here are some of my favorite screens:

MSN Money.com
Morningstar.com
Yahoo! Finance
Reuters