Finding individual stocks and bonds | Vanguard (2024)

Points to know

• You can narrow down stocks by looking at certain types of companies, or by considering metrics like growth and volatility.
• When buying bonds, you'll need to think about your purchasing strategies as well as the types of issuers you're interested in.

Individual stocks

You can focus onstocksbycapitalizationorsector. You may also want to look into otherfundamentalssuch as the ones below.

Earnings per share

This divides a company's net profit by the number of stocksharesavailable for trading. By looking at a stock's earnings per share over a period of several months or years, you can see how the company has grown.

Price/earnings ratio

This divides the stock's share price by the amount of earnings it's distributed in the last 12 months (per share). A high price/earnings ratio indicates that investors are expecting more growth in the future.

Because different industries have different prospects for growth, this indicator is mainly useful when comparing companies within the same industry.

Price/book ratio

This divides a stock's share price by the total value of all the company's assets minus its liabilities (per share). If the price/book ratio is low, the shares may be undervalued.

52-week high/low

This represents the highest and lowest prices at which the stock has traded in the past year. A stock that nears or passes its previous high or low could see additional trading volume andvolatility.

Dividend yield

This divides the value ofdividendspaid in the past year (per share) by the stock's current share value. This can indicate how much of a company's cash flow is being passed through to investors.

Beta

This measures how volatile the stock is compared with the overallmarket.

We have resources that can help you research individual stocks.

Use our stock screener to find specific stocks (logon required)

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Individual bonds

As you consider yourbondpurchases, keep these questions in mind:

• Will you buy on theprimary marketor on thesecondary market?
• Will you buy Treasury bonds, corporate bonds, or some other type of bonds?
• Could you benefit from buying tax-exempt municipal bonds?
• Will you buy bonds that form aladder,barbells, or another strategy?
• Do you plan to sell your bonds, or hold them tomaturity?
• Are you concerned about the potential for bonds to be called early?
• What level ofriskare you willing to take with your bonds?

We have resources that can help you research individual bonds.

Search bonds offered through Vanguard

See information about upcoming Treasury auctions

See public filings for thousands of corporate bond issuers

Find information about specific municipal bond issues

More education on bonds

Get started trading bonds

See education on bonds from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA)