Compare PSX Stocks

Start with the same sector, because valuation norms differ: banks, oil and gas, fertiliser and cement each trade on different multiples. Then compare what you pay (P/E, P/B, dividend yield), what the business earns (ROE, net margin), how the price has behaved (returns, volatility, biggest fall) and how big the company is. This tool puts all of those in one table for two to four stocks.

There is no single best ratio. For profitable companies P/E is the usual first look, for banks P/B together with ROE, and for income investors dividend yield together with the payout ratio, so you can see whether the dividend is covered by profit. Use several together and compare each with the stock's own history and its peers.

No. A low P/E can mean a bargain, but it can also mean the market expects profit to fall, or that the profit is a one-off. Cyclical companies often look cheapest at the top of their cycle. That is why the table only shades the lowest P/E and does not call it the winner.

It is the latest annual dividend per share divided by today's share price. If a stock paid Rs 20 over the last year and trades at Rs 200, the yield is 10%. The yield changes whenever the price moves, and a past dividend is not a promise of a future one.

Volatility is how much the daily price moves, scaled to a year (the standard deviation of daily log returns times the square root of 248 trading days). A higher number means a bumpier ride. The biggest fall from a peak is the largest drop from a high close to a later low close in the chosen window, the loss you would have sat through if you bought at the worst time.

A cell is blank when the data is not available, for example for a newly listed company or a stock with no price history. P/E shows n/m (not meaningful) when the latest annual EPS is a loss, because a negative P/E is not useful.

It shows whether the stock is currently a member of the KMI All Share Islamic index, which screens companies for Shariah compliance. Membership is reviewed periodically, so check the latest status before investing, and test a company against the screening ratios with the Shariah compliance checker.

That is where our daily price history begins. The 'since' return, volatility and the chart use that data. A company that listed later starts from its first session in our history, and the table marks it with a dagger.