How to buy Sonic Healthcare shares | A$33.91

Sonic Healthcare Limited is a medical care facilities business based in Australia. Sonic Healthcare shares (SHL) are listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) and all prices are listed in Australian Dollars. Its last market close was $33.91 – an increase of 4.11% over the previous week. Sonic Healthcare has a trailing 12-month revenue of around $6.8 billion.

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 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 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. 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 $33.91, 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 Sonic Healthcare. 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 Sonic Healthcare's share price?

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

Its last market close was $33.91, which is 8.43% up on its pre-crash value of $31.05 and 69.04% up on the lowest point reached during the March crash when the shares fell as low as $20.06.

If you had bought $1,000 worth of Sonic Healthcare shares at the start of February 2020, those shares would have been worth $731.75 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 $1,076.98.

Sonic Healthcare share price

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

Sonic Healthcare shares at a glance

• Key figures

Information last updated 2020-09-20.

Latest market close	AUDA$33.91
52-week range	AUDA$20.06 - AUDA$34.8
50-day moving average	AUDA$33.1569
200-day moving average	AUDA$29.0968
Target price	AUDA$25.23
PE ratio	29.4123
Dividend yield	AUDA$0.85 (2.62%)
Earnings per share (TTM)	AUDA$1.106

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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 Sonic Healthcare 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 Sonic Healthcare Limited by TradingView

Sonic Healthcare price performance over time

Historical closes compared with the last close of A$33.91

1 week (2020-09-13)	N/A
1 month (2020-08-24)	-1.65%
3 months (2020-06-20)	N/A
6 months (2020-03-23)	47.18%

1 year (2019-09-20)	N/A
2 years (2018-09-20)	N/A
3 years (2017-09-20)	N/A
5 years (2015-09-20)	N/A

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 29x. In other words, Sonic Healthcare shares trade at around 29x 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 $1.4 billion (£0.0 million).

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

Sonic Healthcare financials

Revenue TTM	$6.8 billion
Operating margin TTM	11.88%
Gross profit TTM	$2.2 billion
Return on assets TTM	4.6%
Return on equity TTM	9.72%
Profit margin	7.73%
Book value	11.73
Market capitalisation	$15.5 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: 21.73

Socially conscious investors use ESG scores to screen how an investment aligns with their worldview, and Sonic Healthcare's overall score of 21.73 (as at 07/31/2020) is excellent – landing it in it in the 18th 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: 9.95/100

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 Limited was last rated for ESG on: 2020-08-01.

Total ESG score	21.73
Total ESG percentile	18.22
Environmental score	1.57
Environmental score percentile	5
Social score	15.21
Social score percentile	5
Governance score	9.95
Governance score percentile	5
Level of controversy	2

Sonic Healthcare share dividends

Dividend payout ratio: 76.85% of net profits

Recently Sonic Healthcare has paid out, on average, around 76.85% of net profits as dividends. That has enabled analysts to estimate a "forward annual dividend yield" of 2.62% 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 2.62% return on their shares, in the form of dividend payments. In Sonic Healthcare's case, that would currently equate to about A$0.85 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 2020 (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 $20.06 up to $34.8. 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 Sonic Healthcare's is 0.6602. This would suggest that Sonic Healthcare's shares are less volatile than average (for this exchange).

Sonic Healthcare overview

Sonic Healthcare Limited, a healthcare company, provides medical diagnostic services, and administrative services and facilities to medical practitioners. The company operates through Laboratory, Imaging, and Other segments. It offers laboratory medicine/pathology and radiology/diagnostic imaging services to clinicians, hospitals, community health services, and their patients. The company also provides general practice, occupational health services, remote health services, community and home nursing services, primary care research programs, health assessment technologies, hospital avoidance programs, and clinical trials and chronic disease management programs. In addition, it offers Phase I-IV clinical trials, safety testing, and patient monitoring services to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and research organizations. The company operates 233 primary care clinics. Sonic Healthcare Limited operates in Australia, the United States, Germany, and internationally. The company was formerly known as Sonic Technology Australia Limited and changed its name to Sonic Healthcare Limited in November 1995. Sonic Healthcare Limited was incorporated in 1934 and is headquartered in Sydney, Australia.

Frequently asked questions

• What percentage of Sonic Healthcare is owned by insiders or institutions?

  Currently 4.982% of Sonic Healthcare shares are held by insiders and 36.428% by institutions.

• When does the fiscal year end for Sonic Healthcare?

  Sonic Healthcare's fiscal year ends in June.

• Where is Sonic Healthcare based?

  Sonic Healthcare's address is: Grosvenor Place, Sydney, NSW, Australia, 2000

• What is Sonic Healthcare's ISIN number?

  Sonic Healthcare's international securities identification number is: AU000000SHL7