How to buy Austal shares | A$3.26

Austal Limited is an aerospace & defense business based in Australia. Austal shares (ASB) are listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) and all prices are listed in Australian Dollars. Its last market close was $3.26 – an increase of 3.16% over the previous week. Austal has a trailing 12-month revenue of around $2.1 billion.

How to buy shares in Austal

1. Compare share trading platforms. To buy shares listed in Australia, you'll need to sign up to a broker with access to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX). Our table below can help you choose.
2. Open and fund your brokerage account. Complete an application with your personal and financial details, like your ID and tax file number. Fund your account with a bank transfer, PayPal or debit card.
3. Search for Austal. Find the share by name or ticker symbol: ASB. Research its history to confirm it's a solid investment against your financial goals.
4. Purchase now or later. Buy today with a market order or use a limit order to delay your purchase until Austal reaches your desired price. To spread out your risk, look into dollar-cost averaging, which smooths out buying at consistent intervals and amounts.
5. Decide on how many to buy. At today's price of $3.26, weigh your budget against a diversified portfolio that can minimise risk through the market's ups and downs.
6. Check in on your investment. Congratulations, you own a part of Austal. Optimise your portfolio by tracking how your stock — and even the business — performs with an eye on the long term. You may be eligible for dividends and shareholder voting rights on directors and management that can affect your stock.

How has coronavirus impacted Austal's share price?

Since the stock market crash in March caused by coronavirus, Austal's share price has had significant negative movement.

Its last market close was $3.26, which is 25.40% down on its pre-crash value of $4.37 and 44.89% up on the lowest point reached during the March crash when the shares fell as low as $2.25.

If you had bought $1,000 worth of Austal shares at the start of February 2020, those shares would have been worth $587.78 at the bottom of the March crash, and if you held on to them, then as of the last market close they'd be worth $829.51.

Austal share price

Use our graph to track the performance of ASB stocks over time.

Austal shares at a glance

• Key figures

Information last updated 2020-09-13.

Latest market close	AUDA$3.26
52-week range	AUDA$2.48 - AUDA$4.62
50-day moving average	AUDA$3.3506
200-day moving average	AUDA$3.1665
Target price	AUDA$2.15
PE ratio	12.7935
Dividend yield	AUDA$0.1 (3.16%)
Earnings per share (TTM)	AUDA$0.247

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Important: Share trading carries risk of capital loss.

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The value of your investments can fall as well as rise and you may get back less than you invested. Past performance is no indication of future results.

Is it a good time to buy Austal stock?

The technical analysis gauge below displays real-time ratings for the timeframes you select. This is not a recommendation, however. It represents a technical analysis based on the most popular technical indicators: Moving Averages, Oscillators and Pivots. Finder might not concur and takes no responsibility.

Technical Analysis of Austal Limited by TradingView

Austal price performance over time

Historical closes compared with the last close of A$3.26

1 week (2020-09-10)	1.87%
1 month (2020-08-19)	-7.39%
3 months (2020-06-19)	-2.98%
6 months (2020-03-19)	22.56%

1 year (2019-09-19)	-21.45%
2 years (2018-09-19)	70.68%
3 years (2017-09-19)	97.58%
5 years (2015-09-18)	46.85%

Is Austal under- or over-valued?

Valuing Austal stock is incredibly difficult, and any metric has to be viewed as part of a bigger picture of Austal's overall performance. However, analysts commonly use some key metrics to help gauge the value of a stock.

Austal's P/E ratio

Austal's current share price divided by its per-share earnings (EPS) over a 12-month period gives a "trailing price/earnings ratio" of roughly 13x. In other words, Austal shares trade at around 13x recent earnings.

That's relatively low compared to, say, the P/E ratio for the ASX over the 12 months to December 2019 (32.14). The low P/E ratio could mean that investors are pessimistic about the outlook for the shares or simply that they're under-valued.

Austal's PEG ratio

Austal's "price/earnings-to-growth ratio" can be calculated by dividing its P/E ratio by its growth – to give 1.99. A low ratio can be interpreted as meaning the shares offer better value, while a higher ratio can be interpreted as meaning the shares offer worse value.

The PEG ratio provides a broader view than just the P/E ratio, as it gives more insight into Austal's future profitability. By accounting for growth, it could also help you if you're comparing the share prices of multiple high-growth companies.

Austal's EBITDA

Austal's EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) is $158.1 million (£0.0 million).

The EBITDA is a measure of a Austal's overall financial performance and is widely used to measure a its profitability.

Austal financials

Revenue TTM	$2.1 billion
Operating margin TTM	5.78%
Gross profit TTM	$239.3 million
Return on assets TTM	5.59%
Return on equity TTM	12.9%
Profit margin	4.27%
Book value	2.103
Market capitalisation	$1.1 billion

TTM: trailing 12 months

Austal share dividends

Dividend payout ratio: 24.29% of net profits

Recently Austal has paid out, on average, around 24.29% of net profits as dividends. That has enabled analysts to estimate a "forward annual dividend yield" of 3.16% of the current stock value. This means that over a year, based on recent payouts (which are sadly no guarantee of future payouts), Austal shareholders could enjoy a 3.16% return on their shares, in the form of dividend payments. In Austal's case, that would currently equate to about A$0.1 per share.

While Austal's payout ratio might seem low, this can signify that Austal is investing more in its future growth.

The latest dividend was paid out to all shareholders who bought their shares by 7 September 2020 (the "ex-dividend date").

Have Austal's shares ever split?

Austal's shares were split on 17 September 2001.

Austal share price volatility

Over the last 12 months, Austal's shares have ranged in value from as little as $2.48 up to $4.62. A popular way to gauge a stock's volatility is its "beta".

Beta is a measure of a share's volatility in relation to the market. The market (AU average) beta is 1, while Austal's is 0.6247. This would suggest that Austal's shares are less volatile than average (for this exchange).

Austal overview

Austal Limited designs, manufactures, constructs, and supports defense and commercial vessels in North America, Europe, Australia, Asia, South and Central America, the Middle East, and Africa. The company designs, constructs, and supports passenger ferries, vehicle and passenger ferries, and offshore and windfarm vessels; naval and other defense vessels; and patrol boats for government law enforcement and border protection agencies. It also develops and integrates advanced vessel control and information management systems, including MARINELINK, an integrated monitoring, alarm, and control system for vessel systems; MARINELINK-Smart vessel management system that provides vessel support service; and MARINELINK-Fleet, an off-the-shelf system, which offers shore-sourced ship position, schedule, and weather data, as well as motion control interceptors. In addition, the company provides life capability management and vessel support services, such as crew training and instruction, vessel servicing, repair and maintenance, integrated logistics support, vessel sustainment, and information management systems support to naval, government, and commercial operators; and refit services and management of annual dockings. Austal Limited was founded in 1988 and is headquartered in Henderson, Australia.

Frequently asked questions

• What percentage of Austal is owned by insiders or institutions?

  Currently 14.137% of Austal shares are held by insiders and 36.664% by institutions.

• When does the fiscal year end for Austal?

  Austal's fiscal year ends in June.

• Where is Austal based?

  Austal's address is: 100 Clarence Beach Road, Henderson, WA, Australia, 6166

• What is Austal's ISIN number?

  Austal's international securities identification number is: AU000000ASB3