My actual stock screener filters—and why most screener tutorials are useless

Every screener tutorial I've seen shows you how to use the filters but not which filters actually matter for finding good investments. Here's my real setup after years of refinement.

The problem with most screener approaches:

You can filter on 200 variables. But filtering on too many things simultaneously gives you zero results, and the "obvious" filters (low P/E, high dividend yield) often just surface value traps and companies in distress.

My dividend stock screener (Finviz):

These are the filters I actually use, and more importantly, why:

Market cap > $2 billion: I've learned the hard way that small-cap dividend stocks are often traps. The yield looks attractive, but liquidity is poor, coverage is thin, and they cut at the first sign of trouble. Large caps have more staying power.

Dividend yield > 1.5% and < 7%: The floor filters out companies that barely pay dividends. The ceiling is crucial—above 7% and you're mostly looking at distressed situations, unsustainable payouts, or special circumstances that require individual analysis. I'd rather find a sustainable 3% than a precarious 8%.

Payout ratio < 75%: Room for the dividend to survive an earnings dip. Companies paying out 90%+ of earnings have no cushion.

EPS growth past 5 years > 0%: The company needs to be going somewhere, not just milking a declining business. This filters out a lot of yield traps.

Debt/Equity < 1.5: Highly leveraged companies are more likely to cut dividends when refinancing gets expensive or cash gets tight. This filter is sector-dependent—I loosen it for utilities and REITs where leverage is normal.

Current ratio > 1: Basic liquidity test. Can they pay their short-term obligations? Filters out companies that might be forced into distressed decisions.

That's it. Six filters. This typically gives me 50-150 stocks to review further. I could add more filters, but at this point I'm better served by reading about the companies than by adding algorithmic constraints.

The filters I explicitly don't use:

Analyst ratings: Analysts have their own agendas and biases. A "strong buy" consensus doesn't tell me much.

P/E ratio: P/E is too crude and varies wildly by sector. A 25 P/E tech company might be cheap while a 12 P/E retailer is expensive. I look at P/E during research, but it's not a screener filter.

52-week high/low proximity: I used to filter for stocks near 52-week lows thinking they were "cheap." Often they're low for good reasons. I'd rather find stocks at any price level with strong fundamentals.

My growth stock screener (different philosophy):

For growth, I actually screen less. My filters:

Market cap > $1 billion
Revenue growth past 5 years > 15%
EPS growth past 5 years > 10%

That's it. Growth screening is more about finding candidates for research than filtering to a final list.

The workflow after screening:

The screener gives me candidates. Then:

Quick read of the business description—do I understand what they do?
Look at the 5-year stock chart—is there a story here?
Check recent news—anything concerning?
If still interested, dig into the financials properly

Most screener results don't survive step 1. And that's fine—the point is efficient filtering, not finding gems automatically.

What filters do you actually use? Anyone have a setup that finds different kinds of opportunities?