How to buy shares in Woolworths
To buy shares listed in Australia such as Woolworths, you'll need to sign up to a broker with access to the ASX. Our table can help you compare share trading platforms and choose. Then follow these steps.
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Open and fund your brokerage account. Complete an application with your personal and financial details, including your ID and tax file number. Fund your account with a bank transfer, PayPal or debit card.
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Search for Woolworths. Find the share by name or ticker symbol: WOW. Research its history to confirm it's a solid investment against your financial goals.
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Purchase now or later. Buy today with a market order or use a limit order to delay your purchase until Woolworths reaches your desired price. Look into dollar-cost averaging to spread out your risk, which smooths out buying at consistent intervals and amounts.
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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.
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Check on your investment. Congratulations, you own a part of Woolworths. 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.
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What's in this guide?
- Woolworths key stats
- Compare share trading platforms
- Is Woolworths stock a buy or sell?
- Woolworths performance over time
- Is Woolworths suitable for ethical investing?
- Are Woolworths shares over-valued?
- Woolworths's financials
- How volatile are Woolworths shares?
- Does Woolworths pay a dividend?
- Have Woolworths shares ever split?
- Frequently asked questions
Woolworths stock price (ASX:WOW)
Use our graph to track the performance of WOW stocks over time.Woolworths shares at a glance
52-week range | $32.05 - $39.186 |
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50-day moving average | $34.999 |
200-day moving average | $36.7782 |
Target price | $36.4 |
PE ratio | 3235 |
Dividend yield | $1.05 (2.91%) |
Earnings per share (TTM) | $0.01 |
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Is it a good time to buy Woolworths 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.
Woolworths price performance over time
Historical closes compared with the last close of A$32.49
1 week (2024-03-11) | -0.79% |
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1 month (2024-02-19) | -8.99% |
3 months (2023-12-19) | -11.01% |
6 months (2023-09-19) | -13.59% |
1 year (2023-03-17) | -12.33% |
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2 years (2022-03-18) | -9.90% |
3 years (2021-03-19) | -16.48% |
5 years (2019-03-19) | 7.02% |
Is Woolworths under- or over-valued?
Valuing Woolworths stock is incredibly difficult, and any metric has to be viewed as part of a bigger picture of Woolworths's overall performance. However, analysts commonly use some key metrics to help gauge the value of a stock.
Woolworths's P/E ratio
Woolworths's current share price divided by its per-share earnings (EPS) over a 12-month period gives a "trailing price/earnings ratio" of roughly 3235x. In other words, Woolworths shares trade at around 3235x 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.
Woolworths's PEG ratio
Woolworths's "price/earnings-to-growth ratio" can be calculated by dividing its P/E ratio by its growth – to give 2.37. 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 Woolworths's future profitability. By accounting for growth, it could also help you if you're comparing the share prices of multiple high-growth companies.
Woolworths's EBITDA
Woolworths's EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) is $2.5 billion (£1.3 billion).
The EBITDA is a measure of a Woolworths's overall financial performance and is widely used to measure stock profitability.
Woolworths financials
Revenue TTM | $65.8 billion |
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Gross profit TTM | $17.2 billion |
Return on assets TTM | 2.58% |
Return on equity TTM | 0.12% |
Profit margin | -0.01% |
Book value | 4.174 |
Market capitalisation | $39.5 billion |
TTM: trailing 12 months
Woolworths'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 Woolworths.
When it comes to ESG scores, lower is better, and lower scores are generally associated with lower risk for would-be investors.
Woolworths's total ESG risk score
Total ESG risk: 22.41
Socially conscious investors use ESG scores to screen how an investment aligns with their worldview, and Woolworths's overall score of 22.41 (as at 12/31/2018) is pretty good – landing it in it in the 24th percentile of companies rated in the same sector.
ESG scores are increasingly used to estimate the level of risk a company like Woolworths 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.).
Woolworths's environmental score
Environmental score: 5.93/100
Woolworths's environmental score of 5.93 puts it squarely in the 2nd percentile of companies rated in the same sector. This could suggest that Woolworths is a leader in its sector terms of its environmental impact, and exposed to a lower level of risk.
Woolworths's social score
Social score: 11.44/100
Woolworths's social score of 11.44 puts it squarely in the 2nd percentile of companies rated in the same sector. This could suggest that Woolworths is a leader in its sector when it comes to taking good care of its workforce and the communities it impacts.
Woolworths's governance score
Governance score: 4.04/100
Woolworths's governance score puts it squarely in the 2nd percentile of companies rated in the same sector. That could suggest that Woolworths is a leader in its sector when it comes to responsible management and strategy, and exposed to a lower level of risk.
Woolworths's controversy score
Controversy score: 3/5
ESG scores also evaluate any incidences of controversy that a company has been involved in. Woolworths scored a 3 out of 5 for controversy – a middle-of-the-table result reflecting that Woolworths hasn't always managed to keep its nose clean.
Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) summary
Woolworths Ltd was last rated for ESG on: 2019-01-01.
Total ESG score | 22.41 |
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Total ESG percentile | 24.44 |
Environmental score | 5.93 |
Environmental score percentile | 2 |
Social score | 11.44 |
Social score percentile | 2 |
Governance score | 4.04 |
Governance score percentile | 2 |
Level of controversy | 3 |
Woolworths share dividends
Dividend payout ratio: 1.75% of net profits
Recently Woolworths has paid out, on average, around 1.75% of net profits as dividends. That has enabled analysts to estimate a "forward annual dividend yield" of 2.91% of the current stock value. This means that over a year, based on recent payouts (which are sadly no guarantee of future payouts), Woolworths shareholders could enjoy a 2.91% return on their shares, in the form of dividend payments. In Woolworths's case, that would currently equate to about A$1.05 per share.
While Woolworths's payout ratio might seem low, this can signify that Woolworths is investing more in its future growth.
The latest dividend was paid out to all shareholders who bought their shares by 27 February 2024 (the "ex-dividend date").
Have Woolworths's shares ever split?
Woolworths's shares were split on 16 February 2000.
Woolworths share price volatility
Over the last 12 months, Woolworths's shares have ranged in value from as little as $32.05 up to $39.186. 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 Woolworths's is 0.269. This would suggest that Woolworths's shares are less volatile than average (for this exchange).
Woolworths overview
Woolworths Group Limited operates retail stores in Australia and New Zealand. It operates through Australian Food, Australian B2B, New Zealand Food, BIG W, and Other segments. The Australian Food segment procures and resells food and related products, and provides services to customers in Australia. The Australian B2B segment engages in procurement and distribution of food and related products for resale to other businesses, as well as provision of supply chain services to business customers in Australia. The New Zealand Food segment is involved in the procurement and resale of food and drinks, and provides services to retail customers in New Zealand. BIG W segment procures and resells discount general merchandise products to customers in Australia. The Other segment operates Quantium and MyDeal retail stores The company was formerly known as Woolworths Limited and changed its name to Woolworths Group Limited in December 2017. Woolworths Group Limited was incorporated in 1924 and is based in Bella Vista, Australia.
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Woolworths in the news
Woolworths Group's (ASX:WOW) Dividend Will Be A$0.47
Do These 3 Checks Before Buying Woolworths Group Limited (ASX:WOW) For Its Upcoming Dividend
Analysts Have Made A Financial Statement On Woolworths Group Limited's (ASX:WOW) Interim Report
Frequently asked questions
- EOD price data and company information for Woolworths accessed 19 Mar 2024
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Ask an Expert
A friend who holds some Woolworth shares told me that as a shareholder he receives a 10% discount on monthly purchases. Is this true?
Hi Razer, I admit I raced to check this out for myself. But unfortunately, this is not the case. See: https://www.woolworthsgroup.com.au/au/en/investors/shareholding-information/shareholder-faqs.html#accordion-4207c57092-item-2cbadfdbab