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How to buy Sonic Healthcare (SHL) shares in Australia

Learn how to easily invest in Sonic Healthcare shares.

Sonic Healthcare is a diagnostics & research business based in Australia. Sonic Healthcare shares (SHL) are listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) and all prices are in Australian dollars. Sonic Healthcare has a trailing 12-month revenue of around $8.2 billion. If you're looking to buy shares, check out the steps below.

How to buy shares in Sonic Healthcare

  1. Compare share trading platforms. To buy shares listed in Australia, you'll need to sign up to a broker with access to the ASX. Our table can help you choose.
  2. Open and fund your brokerage account. Complete an application with your personal and financial details, such as your ID and tax file number. Fund your account with a bank transfer, PayPal or debit card.
  3. Search for Sonic Healthcare. Find the share by name or ticker symbol: SHL. 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 Sonic Healthcare reaches your desired price. Look into dollar-cost averaging to spread out your risk, which smooths out buying at consistent intervals and amounts.
  5. Decide on how many to buy. At today's price, weigh your budget against a diversified portfolio that can minimise risk through the market's ups and downs.
  6. Check on your investment. Congratulations, you own a part of Sonic Healthcare. Optimise your portfolio by tracking how your stock and 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 affect your stock.

Sonic Healthcare stock price (ASX:SHL)

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

Sonic Healthcare shares at a glance

Information last updated 2023-12-04.
52-week range$27.1833 - $36.2623
50-day moving average $29.4884
200-day moving average $33.1195
Target price$33.6
PE ratio 19.97
Dividend yield $1.04 (3.57%)
Earnings per share (TTM) $1.44

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Is it a good time to buy Sonic Healthcare stock?

The technical analysis gauge below displays real-time ratings for the timeframes you select. However, this is not a recommendation. 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.

Sonic Healthcare price performance over time

Historical closes compared with the last close of A$31.1

1 week (2023-12-04) 7.58%
1 month (2023-11-10) 2.17%
3 months (2023-09-11) 0.48%
6 months (2023-06-09) -10.99%
1 year (2022-12-09) 2.98%
2 years (2021-12-10) -28.72%
3 years (2020-12-11) -4.95%
5 years (2018-12-11) 45.40%

Is Sonic Healthcare under- or over-valued?

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

Sonic Healthcare's P/E ratio

Sonic Healthcare's current share price divided by its per-share earnings (EPS) over a 12-month period gives a "trailing price/earnings ratio" of roughly 20x. In other words, Sonic Healthcare shares trade at around 20x 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.

Sonic Healthcare's EBITDA

Sonic Healthcare's EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) is $1.3 billion (£0.0 million).

The EBITDA is a measure of a Sonic Healthcare's overall financial performance and is widely used to measure stock profitability.

Sonic Healthcare financials

Revenue TTM $8.2 billion
Operating margin TTM 10.77%
Gross profit TTM $2.8 billion
Return on assets TTM 4.98%
Return on equity TTM 9.22%
Profit margin 8.39%
Book value 16.432
Market capitalisation $13.8 billion

TTM: trailing 12 months

Sonic Healthcare's environmental, social and governance track record

Environmental, social and governance (known as ESG) criteria are a set of three factors used to measure the sustainability and social impact of companies like Sonic Healthcare.

When it comes to ESG scores, lower is better, and lower scores are generally associated with lower risk for would-be investors.

Sonic Healthcare's total ESG risk score

Total ESG risk: 19.38

Socially conscious investors use ESG scores to screen how an investment aligns with their worldview, and Sonic Healthcare's overall score of 19.38 (as at 01/01/2019) is pretty good – landing it in it in the 20th percentile of companies rated in the same sector.

ESG scores are increasingly used to estimate the level of risk a company like Sonic Healthcare is exposed to within the areas of "environmental" (carbon footprint, resource use etc.), "social" (health and safety, human rights etc.), and "governance" (anti-corruption, tax transparency etc.).

Sonic Healthcare's environmental score

Environmental score: 1.57/100

Sonic Healthcare's environmental score of 1.57 puts it squarely in the 5th percentile of companies rated in the same sector. This could suggest that Sonic Healthcare is a leader in its sector terms of its environmental impact, and exposed to a lower level of risk.

Sonic Healthcare's social score

Social score: 15.21/100

Sonic Healthcare's social score of 15.21 puts it squarely in the 5th percentile of companies rated in the same sector. This could suggest that Sonic Healthcare is a leader in its sector when it comes to taking good care of its workforce and the communities it impacts.

Sonic Healthcare's governance score

Governance score: 9.6/100

Sonic Healthcare's governance score puts it squarely in the 5th percentile of companies rated in the same sector. That could suggest that Sonic Healthcare is a leader in its sector when it comes to responsible management and strategy, and exposed to a lower level of risk.

Sonic Healthcare's controversy score

Controversy score: 2/5

ESG scores also evaluate any incidences of controversy that a company has been involved in. Sonic Healthcare scored a 2 out of 5 for controversy – the second-highest score possible, reflecting that Sonic Healthcare has, for the most part, managed to keep its nose clean.

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) summary

Sonic Healthcare Ltd was last rated for ESG on: 2019-01-01.

Total ESG score 19.38
Total ESG percentile 20.02
Environmental score 1.57
Environmental score percentile 5
Social score 15.21
Social score percentile 5
Governance score 9.6
Governance score percentile 5
Level of controversy 2

Sonic Healthcare share dividends

Dividend payout ratio: 128.4% of net profits

Recently Sonic Healthcare has paid out, on average, around 128.4% of net profits as dividends. That has enabled analysts to estimate a "forward annual dividend yield" of 3.57% of the current stock value. This means that over a year, based on recent payouts (which are sadly no guarantee of future payouts), Sonic Healthcare shareholders could enjoy a 3.57% return on their shares, in the form of dividend payments. In Sonic Healthcare's case, that would currently equate to about A$1.04 per share.

Sonic Healthcare's payout ratio would broadly be considered high, and as such this stock could appeal to those looking to generate an income. Bear in mind however that companies should normally also look to re-invest a decent amount of net profits to ensure future growth.

The latest dividend was paid out to all shareholders who bought their shares by 6 September 2023 (the "ex-dividend date").

Sonic Healthcare share price volatility

Over the last 12 months, Sonic Healthcare's shares have ranged in value from as little as $27.1833 up to $36.2623. A popular way to gauge a stock's volatility is its "beta".

Beta measures a share's volatility in relation to the market. The market (AU average) beta is 1, while Sonic Healthcare's is 0.488. This would suggest that Sonic Healthcare's shares are less volatile than average (for this exchange).

Sonic Healthcare overview

Sonic Healthcare Limited offers medical diagnostic services to medical practitioners, hospitals, community health services, and their collective patients. The company provides laboratory medicine/pathology testing services, such as biochemistry, cytopathology, genetics, haematology, histopathology, immunoserology, microbiology, molecular pathology, prenatal testing, toxicology, and ancillary functions; and radiology services, including magnetic resonance imaging, computed tomography (CT), ultrasound, X-ray, mammography, nuclear medicine, PET CT, interventional procedures, and bone mineral densitometry. It offers primary care medical services comprising general practice clinics, occupational health services, skin cancer clinics, after-hours general practice services, general practice IT solutions, and community-based healthcare services. The company operates in Australia, the United Kingdom, Ireland, the United States, Germany, Switzerland, New Zealand, Belgium, and internationally. Sonic Healthcare Limited was incorporated in 1934 and is headquartered in Sydney, Australia.

Frequently asked questions

Disclaimer: This information should not be interpreted as an endorsement of futures, stocks, ETFs, CFDs, options or any specific provider, service or offering. It should not be relied upon as investment advice or construed as providing recommendations of any kind. Futures, stocks, ETFs and options trading involves substantial risk of loss and therefore are not appropriate for all investors. Trading CFDs comes with a higher risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. Past performance is not an indication of future results. Consider your own circumstances, and obtain your own advice, before making any trades.

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