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Stock Beta Screener
Mid and large-cap stocks ranked by beta — their sensitivity to S&P 500 moves. Filter by Defensive (<0.8), Market-neutral (0.8–1.2), or Volatile (>1.2) to find low-risk income plays or high-momentum names by sector.
What Beta Tells You (and What It Does Not)
Beta is the most widely used measure of a stock's market sensitivity. A beta of 1.0 means the stock moves in line with the S&P 500. A beta of 1.5 means it amplifies those moves by 50% — rising further in bull markets and falling further in downturns. A beta of 0.5 means it absorbs only half the market's swing. Beta is typically computed from five years of monthly returns against the S&P 500, so it captures how the stock has actually behaved across a full economic cycle, not just a short window.
This screener splits the universe into three practical tiers. Defensive (beta < 0.8): stocks that dampen market volatility — often utilities, consumer staples, and healthcare names whose revenues hold up regardless of the economy. Market-neutral (0.8 – 1.2): stocks that broadly track the index. Volatile (beta > 1.2): stocks that amplify market moves — common in technology, discretionary, and energy, where revenues are more cycle-sensitive.
What beta does not tell you is whether a stock is good or cheap. A low-beta utility can be wildly overvalued. A high-beta semiconductor can be an exceptional business at a reasonable price. Beta is a risk-positioning tool, not a quality or valuation signal — pair it with the P/E, FCF yield, and ROIC to get the full picture.
How to Use Beta in Portfolio Construction
Portfolio beta is the weighted average of your individual stock betas. If your goal is a portfolio beta of 1.0 (market-like risk), you can blend high-beta growth names with low-beta defensive positions. If you want to reduce drawdowns — common near retirement — tilting toward low-beta stocks and away from high-beta ones will typically smooth the ride, at the cost of some upside participation in strong bull markets.
One practical workflow: use the Defensive filter to identify candidates in sectors you want exposure to, then check the dividend yield column to find those that also pay income. Low-beta, high-dividend stocks like regulated utilities often appear here — they act as bond-like equity positions in mixed portfolios.
For a valuation check on any stock in the screener, click its ticker to open the full Basis Report stock page. From there you can run a DCF, review earnings quality, and check how the stock stacks up against its peers on the metrics that matter.
Frequently asked questions
Which sectors have the lowest beta stocks?
Utilities, consumer staples, and healthcare tend to have the lowest betas because their revenues are largely non-cyclical. People keep paying electric bills and buying groceries regardless of GDP growth. Among the large-caps in this screener, you will typically find the most defensive names in those three sectors — use the sector filter to confirm.
Is a high beta always risky?
High beta amplifies both gains and losses. In a sustained bull market, a high-beta portfolio can significantly outperform. The risk manifests in downturns — a beta of 1.5 means a 20% market correction hits you 30%. Whether that risk is acceptable depends on your time horizon and ability to hold through drawdowns. Investors with decades ahead can often tolerate high beta; those near or in retirement usually cannot.
How is this different from the standard deviation (volatility)?
Standard deviation measures the absolute size of price swings, regardless of whether they correlate with the market. Beta measures only the market-linked component of volatility. A stock can have high standard deviation but low beta if its swings are idiosyncratic (driven by company-specific events). For portfolio risk, beta is more useful because it shows how much the stock contributes to overall portfolio volatility when combined with the market.
Can I build a market-neutral portfolio using beta?
A market-neutral portfolio targets a combined beta of zero by pairing long positions with short positions (or inverse ETFs) that offset the market exposure. True market-neutral strategies are complex and require careful hedging. For most individual investors, the more practical goal is a portfolio beta below 1.0 — enough defensiveness to reduce drawdowns without giving up all equity upside.
Why might a stock's beta change over time?
Beta is a backward-looking measure computed from 5 years of history. As that window rolls forward, old data drops off and new data is added. A company that shifted its business mix — say, a retailer that moved heavily into financial services — may see its beta change substantially. A spin-off or acquisition can also shift the correlation structure. Always treat published beta as a trailing estimate, not a permanent characteristic.
How do I find the full analysis for a stock in the screener?
Click the ticker symbol in the first column to open the Basis Report stock intelligence page. From there you can run a full DCF, review earnings quality, check analyst ratings, and generate a complete research report. Beta tells you the market sensitivity — the full stock page gives you the valuation and fundamental depth to decide whether that risk is worth taking.