As noted in "Fishing in the Bathtub", the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats and Mergent's Broad Dividend Achievers are two places I frequent when looking for potential dividend investments, as do most all dividend investors. But for my more risky higher-return dividend investments, I have to look elsewhere. One of these places is the MSN Stock Screener.
This allows me to define the minimum parameters that I am looking for and let the stock screener search the entire universe of available stocks for a match. I have found MSN Tools to be the most robust and capable on the Internet. Here are some of the items you can consider when running a MSN Stock Screen:
Company Basics: Includes Industry Name, Market Capitalization, Total Shares Outstanding, Number of Employees, Dow Jones Membership, S&P Index Membership, Exchange and State
Investment Return: Includes Return on Equity, Industry Average Return on Equity, Return on Invested Capital, Return on Assets, ROE: 5-Year Avg., ROI: 5-Year Avg. and ROA: 5-Year Avg.
Price Ratios: Includes Price/Book Value, Industry Average Price/Book Value, Revenue/Share, Book Value/Share, P/E Ratio: Current, +12 others
Mgmt. Efficiency: Includes Revenue Per Employee, Income Per Employee, Receivable Turnover, Inventory Turnover, +3 more
Financial Condition: Includes Debt To Equity Ratio, Current Ratio, Quick Ratio, Interest Coverage, +4 More
Dividends: Includes Latest Dividend Rate, Current Dividend Yield, Div. Yield: 5-Year Avg., +3 more
Trading & Volume: Includes Last Volume, Net Insider Transactions, 3-Month Relative Strength, +14 more
Growth Rates: Includes Annual EPS Growth Rate, 5-Year Dividend Growth, EPS Growth Year vs Year, +7 more
Stock Price History: Includes Previous Day's Closing Price, Last Price, % Change Today, +12 more
Profit Margins: Includes Net Profit Margin, Gross Margin, Pre-Tax Margin, +7 more
Current Financials: Includes 12-Month Revenue, 12-Month Income: Cont. Ops., Latest Fiscal EPS, +3 more
Analysts Projections: Includes Current QTR Earnings Est, Current Yr Earnings Est, Mean Recommendation, +7 more
Advisor FYI: Includes 59 events in which an Advisor is issued such as a Stock Split, Receivables Up, Inventory Turn Increased, etc.
StockScouter Rating: Includes Rating, Size, Sector, Rick Expectation, Return Expectation, +8 more
As you can see this is a powerful tool. Next week I will share with you a stock screen that helped me identify some exceptional stocks, and got me into some trouble.
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