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How to buy Woodside Petroleum shares
Own Woodside Petroleum shares in just a few minutes.
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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 $4.5 billion.
How to buy shares in Woodside Petroleum
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Decide on how many to buy. At today's price of $18.27, weigh your budget against a diversified portfolio that can minimise risk through the market's ups and downs.
- 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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For our Top Picks, we compared our Finder partners using a proprietary algorithm in August 2020. Keep in mind that our top picks may not always be the best for you, and you're encouraged to compare for yourself to find one that works for you. Read our full methodology here to find out more.What's in this guide?
- Woodside Petroleum key stats
- Compare share trading platforms
- Is Woodside Petroleum stock a buy or sell?
- Woodside Petroleum performance over time
- Is Woodside Petroleum suitable for ethical investing?
- Are Woodside Petroleum shares over-valued?
- Woodside Petroleum's financials
- How volatile are Woodside Petroleum shares?
- Does Woodside Petroleum pay a dividend?
- Have Woodside Petroleum shares ever split?
- Other common questions
How has coronavirus impacted Woodside Petroleum's share price?
Since the stock market crash in March caused by coronavirus, Woodside Petroleum's share price has had significant negative movement.
Its last market close was $18.27, which is 44.97% down on its pre-crash value of $33.2 and 22.37% up on the lowest point reached during the March crash when the shares fell as low as $14.93.
If you had bought $1,000 worth of Woodside Petroleum shares at the start of February 2020, those shares would have been worth $453.06 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 $542.07.
Woodside Petroleum share price
Use our graph to track the performance of WPL stocks over time.Woodside Petroleum shares at a glance
Information last updated 2021-01-13.
| 52-week range | $14.66 - $34.6554 |
|---|---|
| 50-day moving average | $23.1545 |
| 200-day moving average | $20.4065 |
| Target price | $27.09 |
| PE ratio | 39.3089 |
| Dividend yield | $1.19 (4.69%) |
| Earnings per share (TTM) | $0.367 |
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- Brokerage - AU shares: From AUD 5 or 0.05%
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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 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.
Woodside Petroleum price performance over time
Historical closes compared with the close of A$18.27 on 2020-10-22
| 1 week (2021-01-07) | -24.97% |
|---|---|
| 1 month (2020-12-17) | -22.45% |
| 3 months (2020-10-16) | -0.81% |
| 6 months (2020-07-17) | -11.48% |
| 1 year (2020-01-16) | -49.25% |
|---|---|
| 2 years (2019-01-16) | -45.50% |
| 3 years (2018-01-16) | -45.26% |
| 5 years (2016-01-15) | -31.41% |
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 $3.3 billion (£1.9 billion).
The EBITDA is a measure of a Woodside Petroleum's overall financial performance and is widely used to measure a its profitability.
Woodside Petroleum financials
| Revenue TTM | $4.5 billion |
|---|---|
| Gross profit TTM | $2.1 billion |
| Return on assets TTM | -11.68% |
| Return on equity TTM | -26.63% |
| Profit margin | -91.66% |
| Book value | 12.723 |
| Market capitalisation | $25.7 billion |
TTM: trailing 12 months
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 01/01/2019) 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.
Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) summary
Woodside Petroleum Ltd was last rated for ESG on: 2019-01-01.
| Total ESG score | 25.62 |
|---|---|
| Total ESG percentile | 34.46 |
| Environmental score | 14.54 |
| Environmental score percentile | 3 |
| Social score | 5.63 |
| Social score percentile | 3 |
| Governance score | 6.94 |
| Governance score percentile | 3 |
| Level of controversy | 2 |
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 17 December 2009.
Woodside Petroleum share price volatility
Over the last 12 months, Woodside Petroleum's shares have ranged in value from as little as $14.66 up to $34.6554. 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 1.3764. 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. The company was founded in 1954 and is headquartered in Perth, 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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