What the Categories Tell You

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Company. This data bank contains all companies in the Russell 3000 index, which is made up of the 3,000 largest publicly traded firms in the U.S., based on stock market capitalization. Collectively, they represent 98% of the U.S. stock market. The actual number of companies in the database will be less than 3,000 due to mergers occurring after the July 1 reformulation of this index each year.

Last Closing Price. Prices are rounded to the nearest dollar and are as of the last trading day.

Dividend Yield. The dividend yield presumes that the latest dividend is being paid at an annual rate. The average yield of all Russell 3000 index stocks is slightly above 1%. Broadly speaking, stocks with above-average yields will usually be less volatile than those with below-average yields or no yields at all (see Volatility).

One, three- and five-year total return. Whereas earnings per share tells you how the company has performed, total return tells you how the company's stock performed. It measures the change in the price of a share (adjusted for splits) and assumes that dividends, if any, were reinvested in additional shares. These returns are updated daily.

Earnings growth past 5 years. The total-return columns tell you how well a company's stock performed over prior periods. This statistic tells you how well the company itself did financially. It states growth of earnings per share on an annualized basis, and is updated quarterly.

Projected earnings growth.We give three numbers: the expected rate of earnings expansion for this year, the next fiscal year and annually over the next three to five years, as calculated by First Call, which surveys analysts for their estimates. Because it's difficult to forecast long-term growth rates accurately for most companies, that number should be embraced with caution.

Consecutive yrs earnings growth (max 20 yrs). Here you'll learn how many consecutive years through the most recent that actual earnings per share have risen. An asterisk means that earnings have risen every year for which data on the company is available. Although some companies may have longer histories of earnings growth, only data for the past 20 years is available. Consistency of earnings growth is an attribute that investors prize, and companies that rack up higher profits year after year usually carry a higher price-earnings ratio than similar firms that cannot achieve such consistency.

Consecutive yrs dividend growth (max 20 yrs). This tells you how many consecutive years through the most recent that the company's dividend has been raised. An asterisk means that dividends have risen every year for which data on the company is available. Although some companies may have longer histories of dividend growth, only data for the past 20 years is available. Companies that raise their dividends year after year are usually considered financially strong.

Earnings Per Share. Earnings are for continuing operations. Figures for next year and next quarter are the consensus estimates of analysts surveyed by First Call. Figures for last year and the previous year reflect earnings the company actually achieved.

Price-earnings ratio. The ratio of price divided by earnings per share is a widely followed measure of how a stock is valued -- that is, how highly priced it is. P/E is measured over three different time periods: P/E ratios based on trailing 12 months' earnings reflect actual earnings for the past 12 months. P/E ratios based on estimated earnings next year (also called forward P/E) are calculated using forecasted earnings for next year, as reported by First Call (because stock prices often reflect the anticipation of future earnings). P/E ratios based on average earnings of past five years use actual earnings figures over that time.

By and large, the higher the P/E ratio, the more earnings growth investors expect.

Price-book value ratio. Another measure of value, this is price per share divided by book value per share. Basically, book value is all assets minus all intangible assets (such as goodwill) and also minus all liabilities. The ratio is a convenient way to size up a stock, particularly when you compare one stock against others in the same industry sector. Book value is updated quarterly, but the ratio may change daily as prices fluctuate.

Debt as a percentage of equity. Long-term debt divided by shareholder equity, or net worth, expressed as a percentage. This statistic is a measure of leverage -- that is, the use of borrowed money to increase the return on shareholder equity. It can also indicate a company's financial stability.

Price to sales ratio. Price per share divided by sales per share. The lower this ratio, the better, according to the thinking of value-oriented investors.

PEG ratio. A stock's price-earnings ratio divided by its expected rate of future earnings growth. A stock with a P/E ratio of 24 that's expected to see earnings increase at a 16% annual clip would have a PEG ratio of 1.5. Some investors who favor growth stocks but don't wish to overpay for them seek a PEG ratio no higher than 1. The PEG ratios used in this stock screener are based on expected earnings next year.

Debt to capital ratio. The ratio of a company's liabilities to its total capital. This figure reflects long-term debt-to-capital, which is the ratio of long-term liabilities (those that won't be paid off in one year) to total capital. The higher the level of debt, the more important it is for a company to have positive earnings and steady cash flow.

Return on equity. This statistic indicates how effectively an investor's money is being used by a company. The number is determined by dividing net income by net worth, after preferred stock dividends but before common stock dividends. Look for differences in return on equity between companies in the same industry. We give two measures: One number is for the latest fiscal year, the other is the average over the past five years.

Annual revenue. How much money the company reported taking in, before expenses, during the previous 12 months. The number is expressed in millions of dollars and is updated quarterly.

Market capitalization. The stock market value of the company -- that is, the number of shares multiplied by the share price. The numbers are expressed in millions, so $10,000 means $10 billion. You can use this number to determine the relative size of a company and as a tool to help you diversify among companies of different sizes. As a rough rule of thumb, you could label those companies with less than $1 billion in capitalization ($1,000 in the table) as small cap and those with more than $10 billion as large cap.

Volatility rank (10 is highest risk). This is a measure of a company's short-term risk. The range of scores is from 1 (least risky) to 10 (most risky). Rapidly growing companies will almost always experience above-average volatility in their share prices -- big upward moves followed by big downward moves, in cycles -- and this is considered normal. A buy-and-hold investor should try to ignore these fluctuations and keep the long-term picture uppermost in mind.

200-day moving average. This is calculated by adding the closing prices of a stock over the past 200 trading days, then dividing by 200. The result is a smoothed-out version of a trend. A reversal in trend happens when the price crosses the moving average line-which is when many traders decide to buy or sell the stock.

Price to cash flow ratio. The price per share divided by the cash flow per share. Cash flow is cash a company can use to make other investments, buy back shares or pay dividends. The price to cash flow ratio can be a more useful way than price-earnings ratio to compare profits among similar companies because it adds depreciation and other noncash charges to earnings after taxes. A company with positive cash flow is less likely to have to borrow money to maintain and grow its business.

Relative Strength. Movement of a stock price over the past year as compared with Standard & Poor's 500-stock index. A value below 100 means the stock shows relative weakness in price movement - that is, has underperformed the market; a value above 100 means the stock shows relative strength. We show relative strength over the latest six-month and 12-month periods. Note this measure does not take risk into account.

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