How to buy Woodside Petroleum shares

Woodside Petroleum Ltd is an oil & gas e&p business based in Australia. Woodside Petroleum shares (WPL) are listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) and all prices are listed in Australian Dollars. Woodside Petroleum has a trailing 12-month revenue of around $3.6 billion.

How to buy shares in Woodside Petroleum

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 Woodside Petroleum. Find the share by name or ticker symbol: WPL. 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 Woodside Petroleum 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, 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 Woodside Petroleum. 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.

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Is it a good time to buy Woodside Petroleum 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.

Is Woodside Petroleum under- or over-valued?

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

Woodside Petroleum's P/E ratio

Woodside Petroleum's current share price divided by its per-share earnings (EPS) over a 12-month period gives a "trailing price/earnings ratio" of roughly 39x. In other words, Woodside Petroleum shares trade at around 39x recent earnings.

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

Woodside Petroleum's EBITDA

Woodside Petroleum's EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) is $1.8 billion (£0.0 million).

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

Woodside Petroleum'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 Woodside Petroleum.

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

Woodside Petroleum's total ESG risk score

Total ESG risk: 25.62

Socially conscious investors use ESG scores to screen how an investment aligns with their worldview, and Woodside Petroleum's overall score of 25.62 (as at 12/31/2018) is pretty good – landing it in it in the 34th percentile of companies rated in the same sector.

ESG scores are increasingly used to estimate the level of risk a company like Woodside Petroleum 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.).

Woodside Petroleum's environmental score

Environmental score: 14.54/100

Woodside Petroleum's environmental score of 14.54 puts it squarely in the 3rd percentile of companies rated in the same sector. This could suggest that Woodside Petroleum is a leader in its sector terms of its environmental impact, and exposed to a lower level of risk.

Woodside Petroleum's social score

Social score: 5.63/100

Woodside Petroleum's social score of 5.63 puts it squarely in the 3rd percentile of companies rated in the same sector. This could suggest that Woodside Petroleum is a leader in its sector when it comes to taking good care of its workforce and the communities it impacts.

Woodside Petroleum's governance score

Governance score: 6.94/100

Woodside Petroleum's governance score puts it squarely in the 3rd percentile of companies rated in the same sector. That could suggest that Woodside Petroleum is a leader in its sector when it comes to responsible management and strategy, and exposed to a lower level of risk.

Woodside Petroleum's controversy score

Controversy score: 2/5

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

Woodside Petroleum share dividends

We're not expecting Woodside Petroleum to pay a dividend over the next 12 months.

Have Woodside Petroleum's shares ever split?

Woodside Petroleum's shares were split on 16 December 2009.

Woodside Petroleum share price volatility

Over the last 12 months, Woodside Petroleum's shares have ranged in value from as little as $16.4443 up to $27.4275. 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 Woodside Petroleum's is 1.4012. This would suggest that Woodside Petroleum's shares are more volatile than the average for this exchange and represent, relatively-speaking, a higher risk (but potentially also market-beating returns).

Woodside Petroleum overview

Woodside Petroleum Ltd engages in the exploration, evaluation, development, production, marketing, and sale of hydrocarbons in Oceania, Asia, Canada, Africa, and internationally. The company produces liquefied natural gas, pipeline natural gas, condensate, liquefied petroleum gas, and crude oil. It holds interests in the Greater Browse, Greater Sunrise, Greater Pluto, Greater Exmouth, North West Shelf, Wheatstone, Canada, Senegal, Greater Scarborough, and Myanmar projects. Woodside Petroleum Ltd was founded in 1954 and is headquartered in Perth, Australia.

Frequently asked questions

• What percentage of Woodside Petroleum is owned by insiders or institutions?

  Currently 0.237% of Woodside Petroleum shares are held by insiders and 20.98% by institutions.

• When does the fiscal year end for Woodside Petroleum?

  Woodside Petroleum's fiscal year ends in December.

• Where is Woodside Petroleum based?

  Woodside Petroleum's address is: Mia Yellagonga, Perth, WA, Australia, 6000

• What is Woodside Petroleum's ISIN number?

  Woodside Petroleum's international securities identification number is: AU000000WPL2