8 UK stock screeners you should try

Traders can focus their attention on stocks that meet specific trading or investing criteria by using a stock screener. A stock screener is the software used to find stocks. A scan is then created using criteria that we want a stock to meet (or not meet), and parameters are the values that we want our criteria to fall between.

A UK stock screener allows you to input various metrics and then shows you a list of stocks that meet specific criteria. This is useful for stock selection and narrowing down research time. Here are eight UK stock screeners you can try out.

TradingView’s stock screener analyses approximately 4,000 UK stocks. These can all be sorted based on different pre-set metrics. For example, selecting the Valuation tab shows market cap, P/E, price/revenue, EPS and more. The trend-following tab shows how each stock ranks in terms of its moving averages and other technical indicators​.

You can click on any one of these metrics to rank by that metric. For example, click on P/E to see the stocks with the lowest or highest price/earnings ratio.

To narrow down the number of stocks, choose from more than 15 stock scans, including Volume Leaders, Top Gainers, Most Volatile, and Earnings this Week.

Adjust existing screeners or create your own by clicking the Filters tab. Here you’ll have access to hundreds of technical and fundamental criteria to create a list of stocks that meet your exact parameters. Assuming you have at least a free account, the scan can be saved.

The BarChart UK stock screener offers a variety of fundamental and technical criteria from which to create a stock scan. To add a filter, use the Add a Filter box and select from the dropdown menus. Once selected, specify the parameters. For example, if choosing a 200-day moving average, add it and then input where you want the price in relation to it.

Creating and saving stock scans requires you to create a free account. The site offers a number of pre-set scans, including Gap Up & Gap Down, Five Day Gainers, New Recommendations, and Volume Advances.

When the UK is selected as the country, Wallmine will scan through 1,639 companies. There is no sign up required to create and run a scan, but a free account is required to save it.

You can choose from a variety of fundamental and technical criteria via the Add a Filter dropdown. There are about 65 criteria, which work well for basic scanning, but may not meet the needs of someone looking for very specific criteria or a technical indicator to include.

Once a criterion is selected, the parameters for that criteria can be customised precisely, such as asking for P/Es specifically between 3 and 7.

The main attraction of this site for many investors is the tables. Once you have produced a scan list, you can view the results using more than 20 different layouts that provide different information about the stocks. This allows for a more thorough analysis and looking at the stock from multiple angles, not just as a result of the metrics that were scanned for.

Finviz will only scan for UK companies listed on US exchanges, since it is a US stock screener. This may help if trading on US exchanges but will have limited functionality for users wanting to trade stocks on the London Stock Exchange (LSE), for example. Finviz can scan through approximately 86 UK companies.

The Finviz layout is intuitive and highly visual. The available criteria are organised under three tabs: Descriptive, Fundamental and Technical (or click the All tab to view all the criteria).

Scanning is free, but saving the scan requires a free account. Customising the parameters of a criterion requires a monthly subscription.

See the scan list through multiple lenses by clicking on the various tables. Performance shows how all the stocks on the list have performed over several time frames, while the Charts tab shows charts of all the stocks on the list for quick visual comparison.

The screener can also look for chart patterns and candlestick patterns based on the daily chart.

Once the UK is selected as the country, Investing.com will scan through approximately 2,715 stocks. There are both fundamental and technical criteria to choose from, although the options are limited compared to BarChart and TradingView. For example, there is no moving-average criteria, one of the most common technical analysis indicators.

The screener can look for candlestick patterns, which may help with trade selection. The scanner shows on which time frame the pattern is occurring, from one-minute charts up to weekly charts. A free account is required to save scans.

MarketInOut will scan through more than 3,420 UK stocks. You can view three results from the scanner for free. However, to see the whole list requires a subscription and a free trial isn’t offered.

The screener provides plenty of criteria, both fundamental and technical. It can find chart patterns, candlestick patterns and technical divergence. In addition, it’s possible to compare stocks to their peers and industry ratios.

The Financial Times stock screener filters through approximately 6,800 UK companies. To use this screener, first, select the UK as your country, then add in additional criteria to narrow down the list. This screener is mostly comprised of fundamental criteria, like P/E and company growth statistics.

This screener has virtually no technical analysis criteria to add to the scan. This may limit its usefulness for technical traders, but fundamental traders may appreciate its simple layout and functionality.

Scans can’t be saved. You’ll need to input the criteria each time you want to run a scan or keep the browser window open and refresh the results by clicking Go on the scanner.

Our award-winning Next Generation trading platform provides some pre-set scans that traders can use to find potential stock trades. In the Product Library, under ‘Topical’, there are several useful watchlists​ that are made up of a number of asset classes, including stocks.

The following are popular screens or scans you can run on the tools mentioned. Some screeners may not accommodate all, since each one provides different criteria.