Penny stocks can be a great opportunity for investors who are willing to navigate the volatility and risks. But finding good penny stocks requires powerful screeners that can sift through thousands of low priced stocks to find winners. This article reviews the 5 best penny stock screeners and how to use them.

What are Penny Stocks?

Traditionally penny stocks are stocks that trade for under $5 per share. These are small companies with market caps under $300 million. While penny stocks can offer big returns, they come with big risks including limited liquidity, higher volatility and less regulatory oversight.

5 Best Penny Stock Screeners

1. Trade Ideas

Trade Ideas stands out for its AI capabilities and automation. Holly AI scans the market overnight, going through thousands of trading scenarios to find high probability setups.

trade ideas

Features:

  • AI scanning and pattern recognition
  • Real-time alerts and notifications
  • Automation
  • Customizable parameters
  • Backtesting

For penny stock traders, Trade Ideas has specialized filters for low priced stocks, including volume surges, momentum shifts and breakout patterns. The real-time scanning is a big deal in the fast paced penny stock market, so you can catch opportunities as they develop. While on the higher end of the price spectrum for screeners, serious penny stock traders often find it worth the investment for the speed and pattern recognition.

Special Offer: Click here to sign up to Trade Ideas and get 15% Off with the promo code “STOCKAPP15“.

More Details: Trade Ideas Review

2. Finviz

Finviz is great for it’s user friendly interface and powerful filtering. The free version has fundamental and technical filters that work great for penny stock screening. Premium users get real-time data, backtesting and advanced charting.

finviz

Features:

  • Free basic version with premium options
  • Over 60 filtering parameters
  • Great visualization tools and stock charts
  • Pre-built screens for common strategies

More Details: Finviz Review

3. TradingView

TradingView is great for technical analysis so if you are a penny stock trader who relies on chart patterns and technical indicators, this is the way to go.

tradingview

Features:

  • Free basic version with 3 premium tiers
  • Powerful technical analysis tools
  • Community shared screeners and indicators
  • Multi-timeframe analysis

The screener allows you to filter by technical indicators, price action and volume patterns. The community aspect also allows you to use screening configurations developed by other traders.

More Details: TradingView Review

4. Stock Rover

Stock Rover has some of the most powerful screening capabilities out there. Premium plans get you in-depth financial data so you can screen penny stocks by growth, profitability and valuation ratios.

stock rover

Features:

  • 14 day free trial with 3 premium tiers
  • Over 150 metrics to screen
  • Research reports and ratings
  • Portfolio tracking and management tools

The screening capabilities can help you find undervalued penny stocks with strong fundamentals.

More Details: Stock Rover Review

5. OTC Markets

If you are focused on OTC penny stocks, the OTC Markets screener is a must. It allows you to filter by market tiers which gives you insight into companies disclosure and financial standards compliance.

otc markets

Features:

  • Specialized in OTC stocks
  • Market tier filtering (OTCQX, OTCQB, Pink)
  • Company financial health indicators
  • Compliance and reporting status tracking

OTC Makets is great for finding more legit penny stock opportunities among OTC stocks.

How to Use Penny Stock Screeners Effectively

Set Clear Criteria

Before using any penny stock screener, define your investment criteria:

  1. Price Range: While penny stocks are traditionally under $5, you may want to focus on specific ranges (e.g. $1-3).
  2. Volume Requirements: Look for minimum daily volume thresholds (e.g. 100,000+ shares) to ensure liquidity.
  3. Market Capitalization: Focus on specific market cap ranges based on your risk tolerance.
  4. Sector Focus: Narrow down to industries you understand or those that are growing.

Essential Screening Parameters

Fundamental Parameters

  • Revenue Growth: Screen for companies that are growing revenue for multiple quarters.
  • Earnings Growth: Find companies that are turning profitable or showing improving earnings.
  • Debt to Equity Ratio: Lower ratios are generally better.
  • Insider Ownership: Higher insider ownership often means management is confident.
  • Institutional Ownership: Increasing institutional interest can precede price rise.

These five metrics make up a great framework to find good investments. They cover a company’s financial health (debt ratio), growth (revenue and earnings) and signs from those in the know (management) and the pros (institutions). This balanced approach helps investors find growth while minimizing risk.

Technical Parameters

  • Relative Volume: Look for stocks trading above average volume, potentially indicating increased interest.
  • Moving Average Relationships: Stocks crossing above key moving averages (e.g. 20-day, 50-day) may be trending up.
  • Relative Strength: Compare to broader market indices.
  • Volatility Measures: Look at historical volatility to gauge risk.

These technicals give you timing signals for entry and exit. Relative volume shows surging interest, moving average crossovers confirm trend changes, relative strength shows outperformance versus the market, and volatility measures risk. Together they help you find the best entry points and manage risk and complement fundamental analysis for complete investment decisions.

Advanced Screening Strategies

Catalyst Identification

While most screeners can’t filter for catalysts directly, look for stocks that have:

  • Unusual volume with no news (upcoming announcements)
  • Recent product approvals or big contracts
  • Management changes or institutional investments#### Combining Technical and Fundamental Filters

Most successful screening strategies combine both:

  • Screen first for fundamental criteria to get financially sound companies
  • Apply technical filters to get optimal entry timing
  • Verify with news and catalyst research

Setting Alerts

Most premium screeners allow alerts when stocks meet your criteria:

  • Set volume surge alerts for your watchlist stocks
  • Create price movement notifications for breakouts
  • Establish alerts for big news or SEC filings

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Over-Reliance on One Metric

A penny stock that screens well on one metric can still be a bad stock. Always use multiple criteria to confirm potential candidates.

Ignoring Volume

A penny stock may meet all your criteria but have no volume for easy entry and exit. Always include volume in your screens.

Neglecting Further Research

Screeners find potential candidates not investment ideas. Always research any stock you find through screening.

Conclusion

Penny stock screeners are powerful tools to find potential investments in the low priced stock space. By using the five screeners above and the systematic screening process outlined, you can more successfully navigate this high risk high reward market.

Remember penny stock screening is just the first step in a overall investment strategy. Always combine screener results with company research, technical analysis and risk management discipline.

While these screeners can speed up your search process, they are only the first step in a complete investment strategy. Always verify screener results with in-depth company research, technical analysis and sound risk management.