Using a Stock Screener to Choose Dividend Stocks

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Choosing dividend stocks for your portfolio can be a daunting task. You want stocks that will help you reach your goals for investing, income and for life. But how do you know which stock to choose? There are thousands of dividend stocks out there, and it can be difficult to decide which ones are best for you.

Enter the stock screener. You can use a stock screener to help you find dividend stocks that fit your requirements. Many web sites and brokerages offer stock screeners that can help you get an idea of what is available to you. Some of the qualifications you can screen for include:

  • Dividend Yield
  • PEG ratio
  • Price/book ratio
  • Market capitalization
  • Profit margin

Some dividend stock screeners also let you see dividend growth over the past few years. These qualities let you quickly narrow down your options. If you are looking for a stock to add to your dividend growth portfolio, you might look for a small cap with a high yield and with good estimated five year EPS growth. For those looking for other qualities in a dividend stock, your requirements might be different.

Different stock screening tools provide a variety of qualifications that can be used to pare down the offerings. Once you specify which stocks you want to include, the stock screener will return companies that match your parameters. This gives you a good place to start, and some ideas that appeal to you.

Once you have used the stock screener to narrow down your options, you can begin investigating the companies. Look closely at the fundamentals. How is the stock doing? Is it lower because of short-term factors? If so, you can get a really good deal. You can also look at the dividend history to see whether the company increases payouts regularly. If you are interested in regular dividend growth, dividend aristocrats can be a good place to start.

You don’t have to wade through piles of paperwork and read tons of reports to narrow down your stock options. With the help of an online stock screening tool, dozens of ideas can be delivered to you in seconds. This provides you with a way to pinpoint the stocks that are most likely to do you the best good in your portfolio, and help you reach your dividend investing goals. Find a dividend stock screener that you trust, and start your dividend stock search from that point.