When I started looking for some dividend stocks to add to my TFSA, one of the first places I went was the TD Waterhouse markets and research section. I was looking for a stock screener to help me narrow down my selections.
I’ve held my RRSP, TFSA and RESP accounts with TD Waterhouse since I started investing in stocks. It’s convenient, since most of my accounts are with TD, plus the customer service has always been excellent.
When you have less than $50,000 in household assets, discount brokerages like TD Waterhouse can be expensive in terms of trading and account fees. In that case, you’re better using an online broker like Questrade, which has no account fees and offers trades as low as $4.95 each.
Related: 10 Fees That Are Worth The Money
However, a discount brokerage like TD Waterhouse offers a number of advantages for clients looking to invest, including free market information, research reports and online tools to help manage your investments.
How To Use A Stock Screener
First, I log into Web Broker, click the Markets & Research tab and then click the Screener tab. That brings me to my saved stock screeners, which I use to keep an eye on dividend growth stocks that are trading at a discount.
The first stock screener is called Dividend Yield, which searches for stocks based on the following criteria:
- Dividend Yield between 4% – 10%
- Dividend Growth Rate Current to Prior Year between 0% – 25%
- Dividend Coverage between 200% – 2,000%
- Price/Book Ratio between 0.25 – 2
- Return on Equity (TTM) between 10% – 60%
- % Change from 52-Week Low between 0% – 540%
- % Change from 52-Week High between -90% and -0.1%
- Beta between -1.0 – 0.5
Related: Pitfalls Of Chasing The Highest Dividend Yield
This screen gave me 17 results from the TSX, NYSE and NASDAQ:
| Symbol | Exchange | Name | Dividend Yield |
| SPLS | NASDAQ | Staples Inc |
4.06% |
| IAM | TORONTO | Integrated Asset Management Corp |
9.62% |
| ETR | NYSE | Entergy Corp |
4.83% |
| NA | TORONTO | National Bank Of Canada |
4.31% |
| QCCO | NASDAQ | QC Holdings Inc |
5.83% |
| NWFL | NASDAQ | Norwood Financial Corp |
4.44% |
| BEK.B | TORONTO | Becker Milk Co Ltd |
5.09% |
| ACD | TORONTO | Accord Financial Corp |
4.70% |
| CET | TORONTO | Cathedral Energy Services |
4.75% |
| EH | TORONTO | Easyhome Ltd |
5.28% |
| MRT.UN | TORONTO | Morguard REIT |
5.43% |
| ESBK | NASDAQ | Elmira Savings Bank |
4.71% |
| KMP | TORONTO | Killam Properties Inc |
4.38% |
| REI.UN | TORONTO | RioCan REIT |
4.85% |
| PMZ.UN | TORONTO | Primaris REIT |
5.00% |
| CAR.UN | TORONTO | Canadian Apartment Properties |
4.15% |
| NHTB | NASDAQ | New Hampshire Thrift Bancshares |
4.08% |
The second stock screener I use is called Graham-like stocks. This is based on well-known value investor Benjamin Graham, who always tried to buy stocks that were trading at a discount to their Net Current Asset Value. In other words, you should buy stocks that are undervalued and hold them until they became fully valued.
Related: Market Corrections – Do You Buy, Sell or Ignore?
The Graham-like stock screener searches for stocks based on the following criteria:
- EPS Growth (5-Year Historical) between 3% – 300%
- Dividend Growth Rate 5 Year Average greater than 0
- P/E (TTM) between 0 – 15
- Price/Book Ratio between 0 – 1.5
- Current Ratio greater than 2
- Revenue TTM greater than 400M
This screen produced 16 results from around the globe:
| Symbol | Exchange | Name | EPS Growth (5 Year Historical) |
| GLW | NYSE | Corning Inc |
31.20% |
| PAA | TORONTO | Pan American Silver Corp |
70.30% |
| UMC | NYSE | United Micro Electronics |
72.10% |
| RS | NYSE | Reliance Steel and Aluminum |
13.90% |
| WLT | NYSE | Walter Energy Inc |
55.90% |
| S | TORONTO | Sherritt International Corporation |
5.80% |
| CSH | NYSE | Cash America International Inc |
16.70% |
| ALC | TORONTO | Algoma Central Corp |
16.10% |
| TAP.A | NYSE | Molson Coors Brewing Co |
16.70% |
| CW | NYSE | Curtiss Wright Corp |
9.80% |
| ALG | NYSE | Alamo Group Inc |
20.80% |
| UNS | TORONTO | Uni-Select Inc |
3.90% |
| CTC.A | TORONTO | Canadian Tire Corp Ltd |
7.20% |
| UVV | NYSE | Universal Corp |
10.00% |
| NHC | AMEX | National Healthcare Corp |
10.10% |
| GLT | NYSE | P H Glatfelter Co |
6.50% |
The third stock screener I use is called Canadian Graham stocks, which is fairly self-explanatory. This screen looks for stocks based on the following criteria:
- Exchange (Toronto)
- Revenue TTM greater than $400M
- Current Ratio greater than 2
- Dividend Growth Rate 5 Year Average greater than 0
- EPS Growth (5-Year Historical) between 3% – 300%
- P/E (TTM) between 0 – 15
- Price/Book Ratio between 0 – 1.5
This screen gave me 7 results from the TSX:
| Symbol | Name | Dividend Yield | EPS Growth (5 Year Historical) |
| TCK.B | Teck Resources Ltd |
2.76% |
13.30% |
| PAA | Pan American Silver Corp |
1.16% |
70.30% |
| IMG | IAMGOLD Corp |
1.96% |
21.30% |
| S | Sherritt International Corporation |
3.33% |
5.80% |
| HSE | Husky Energy Inc |
4.58% |
5.00% |
| UNS | Uni-Select Inc |
2.02% |
3.90% |
| ALC | Algoma Central Corp |
2.02% |
16.10% |
By using a stock screener, you can narrow down your choices from thousands of stocks to just a handful, which can save you from doing a ton of research.
Just set the criteria based on your investment philosophy, so if you’re looking for high growth tech stocks or a list of dividend growth stocks trading at a discount, you can set up a screen to suit your needs.
Related: HSBC Australia
Aside from the markets and research section at TD Waterhouse, I also like to use the screens over at the Stingy Investor. They have screens set up for high yield, low P/E, low P/B, value stocks and dividends at risk.
It’s important to note that a stock screener is just a starting point. Further research is required before you invest your money.
Do you use a stock screener to help you find the best stocks for your portfolio?
