What does ATR percent tell you?

It tells you how much the price typically moves in one day as a share of the price. Traders use it to size positions and set stops; Stock Meadow uses it as a measure of how calm a stock is.

How is ATR % different from volatility?

The 60-day volatility metric measures the spread of closing-price returns over about three months and annualizes it. ATR % looks at each day's full high-to-low range, gaps included, over two weeks.

Is a higher or lower ATR % better?

When Stock Meadow ranks stocks, a lower figure scores better. That is a ranking convention, so read ATR % alongside other measures and compare similar companies.

Why is ATR % blank for some stocks?

It is usually blank when there are fewer than 14 days of prices. Stock Meadow leaves the figure blank rather than guessing it.

Stock Meadow · Metric glossary · Price trend

Average True Range (ATR %): formula and how to read it

The average true range (ATR), introduced by J. Welles Wilder in 1978, measures how far a stock typically moves in a day, counting overnight gaps. Dividing it by the price turns it into a percentage, so a $20 stock and a $500 stock can be compared on how bumpy their days are.

What is Average True Range (ATR %)?

How far the price typically moves in a day, as a share of the price. The 14-day average true range divided by the latest close. A day's true range is the largest of its high minus low and the distance from the previous close to its high or low. 2% means the stock typically moves about 2% in a day; lower is calmer.

Stock Meadow groups it under Price trend, and shows it in tables as ATR %.

Formula and a worked example

True range = largest of (high − low), |high − previous close|, |low − previous close|; ATR = Wilder's 14-day average of the true range; ATR % = ATR ÷ latest close

A $50 stock with a 14-day ATR of $1.00 has an ATR % of 1.00 ÷ 50 = 2%: on an average day it moves about 2%. The numbers are made up for illustration.

How to read it

Lower means calmer day-to-day trading, so a lower figure scores better. A stock with an ATR of 4% or more is swinging widely.

When Stock Meadow ranks stocks, a lower figure scores better.

Common pitfalls

It measures the size of moves, not their direction: a stock in a steady slide can have a low ATR %.
It is a 14-day view, so a calm patch before earnings can hide risk.
Needs 14 trading days of prices.

How Stock Meadow handles gaps. Usually blank when there are fewer than 14 days of prices.

Treat any single metric as one clue, and read the company's financial statements before drawing a conclusion. Stock Meadow's figures are research tools based on reported data, not investment advice.

Stock Meadow models that use it

In Weighted ranking, Z-score composite and Balanced (no weak link), you choose the metrics and weights yourself, so you can include it in a custom score.

No fixed-recipe model scores it.

Read about every scoring model in How scores work.

Frequently asked questions

What does ATR percent tell you?: It tells you how much the price typically moves in one day as a share of the price. Traders use it to size positions and set stops; Stock Meadow uses it as a measure of how calm a stock is.
How is ATR % different from volatility?: The 60-day volatility metric measures the spread of closing-price returns over about three months and annualizes it. ATR % looks at each day's full high-to-low range, gaps included, over two weeks.
Is a higher or lower ATR % better?: When Stock Meadow ranks stocks, a lower figure scores better. That is a ranking convention, so read ATR % alongside other measures and compare similar companies.
Why is ATR % blank for some stocks?: It is usually blank when there are fewer than 14 days of prices. Stock Meadow leaves the figure blank rather than guessing it.

Use ATR % in Stock Meadow

Filter on Average true range (% of price), score it in the stock scoring model, and see how every stock compares. Sign up free, no card needed.

Open the stock scoring model