How to buy Walgreens Boots Alliance stock

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc is a pharmaceutical retailers business based in the US. Walgreens Boots Alliance shares (WBA) are listed on the NASDAQ and all prices are listed in US Dollars. Walgreens Boots Alliance employs 232,000 staff and has a trailing 12-month revenue of around USD$138.7 billion.

How to buy shares in Walgreens Boots Alliance

1. Compare share trading platforms. If you're a beginner, look for a platform with low commissions, expert ratings and investment tools to track your portfolio. Narrow down top brands with our comparison table.
2. Open and fund your brokerage account. Complete an application with your personal and financial details, like your ID and bank information. Fund your account with a bank transfer, credit card or debit card.
3. Search for Walgreens Boots Alliance Find the stock by name or ticker symbol: WBA. 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 Walgreens Boots Alliance reaches your desired price. To spread out your purchase, look into dollar-cost averaging, which smooths out buying at consistent intervals and amounts.
5. Decide on how many to buy. Weigh your budget against a diversified portfolio that can minimize risk through the market's ups and downs. You may be able to buy a fractional share of Walgreens Boots Alliance, depending on your broker.
6. Check in on your investment. Congratulations, you own a part of Walgreens Boots Alliance. Optimize 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.

Walgreens Boots Alliance share price

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

Walgreens Boots Alliance shares at a glance

• Key figures

Information last updated 2020-09-25.

52-week range	USD$33.88 - USD$64.5
50-day moving average	USD$38.2391
200-day moving average	USD$41.5634
Wall St. target price	USD$40.94
PE ratio	43.7765
Dividend yield	USD$1.87 (5.34%)
Earnings per share (TTM)	USD$0.849

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Is it a good time to buy Walgreens Boots Alliance 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 Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc by TradingView

This chart is not advice or a guarantee of success. Rather, it gauges the real-time recommendations of three popular technical indicators: moving averages, oscillators and pivots. Finder is not responsible for how your stock performs.

Is Walgreens Boots Alliance under- or over-valued?

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

Walgreens Boots Alliance's P/E ratio

Walgreens Boots Alliance's current share price divided by its per-share earnings (EPS) over a 12-month period gives a "trailing price/earnings ratio" of roughly 44x. In other words, Walgreens Boots Alliance shares trade at around 44x recent earnings.

That's relatively high compared to, say, the trailing 12-month P/E ratio for the NASDAQ 100 at the end of 2019 (27.29). The high P/E ratio could mean that investors are optimistic about the outlook for the shares or simply that they're over-valued.

Walgreens Boots Alliance's PEG ratio

Walgreens Boots Alliance's "price/earnings-to-growth ratio" can be calculated by dividing its P/E ratio by its growth – to give 6.891. 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 Walgreens Boots Alliance's future profitability. By accounting for growth, it could also help you if you're comparing the share prices of multiple high-growth companies.

Walgreens Boots Alliance's EBITDA

Walgreens Boots Alliance's EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) is USD$5 billion.

The EBITDA is a measure of a Walgreens Boots Alliance's overall financial performance and is widely used to measure a its profitability.

Walgreens Boots Alliance financials

Revenue TTM	USD$138.7 billion
Operating margin TTM	2.39%
Gross profit TTM	USD$30.1 billion
Return on assets TTM	2.67%
Return on equity TTM	3.27%
Profit margin	0.55%
Book value	$23.83
Market capitalisation	USD$30.4 billion

TTM: trailing 12 months

Shorting Walgreens Boots Alliance shares

There are currently 19.0 million Walgreens Boots Alliance shares held short by investors – that's known as Walgreens Boots Alliance's "short interest". This figure is 8.5% up from 17.5 million last month.

There are a few different ways that this level of interest in shorting Walgreens Boots Alliance shares can be evaluated.

Walgreens Boots Alliance's "short interest ratio" (SIR)

Walgreens Boots Alliance's "short interest ratio" (SIR) is the quantity of Walgreens Boots Alliance shares currently shorted divided by the average quantity of Walgreens Boots Alliance shares traded daily (recently around 5.9 million). Walgreens Boots Alliance's SIR currently stands at 3.24. In other words for every 100,000 Walgreens Boots Alliance shares traded daily on the market, roughly 3240 shares are currently held short.

However Walgreens Boots Alliance's short interest can also be evaluated against the total number of Walgreens Boots Alliance shares, or, against the total number of tradable Walgreens Boots Alliance shares (the shares that aren't held by "insiders" or major long-term shareholders – also known as the "float"). In this case Walgreens Boots Alliance's short interest could be expressed as 0.02% of the outstanding shares (for every 100,000 Walgreens Boots Alliance shares in existence, roughly 20 shares are currently held short) or 0.0265% of the tradable shares (for every 100,000 tradable Walgreens Boots Alliance shares, roughly 27 shares are currently held short).

Such a low SIR usually points to an optimistic outlook for the share price, with fewer people currently willing to bet against Walgreens Boots Alliance.

Find out more about how you can short Walgreens Boots Alliance stock.

Walgreens Boots Alliance'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 Walgreens Boots Alliance.

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

Walgreens Boots Alliance's total ESG risk score

Total ESG risk: 15.29

Socially conscious investors use ESG scores to screen how an investment aligns with their worldview, and Walgreens Boots Alliance's overall score of 15.29 (as at 08/01/2020) is excellent – landing it in it in the 15th percentile of companies rated in the same sector.

ESG scores are increasingly used to estimate the level of risk a company like Walgreens Boots Alliance 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.).

Walgreens Boots Alliance's environmental score

Environmental score: 4.01/100

Walgreens Boots Alliance's environmental score of 4.01 puts it squarely in the 2nd percentile of companies rated in the same sector. This could suggest that Walgreens Boots Alliance is a leader in its sector terms of its environmental impact, and exposed to a lower level of risk.

Walgreens Boots Alliance's social score

Social score: 8.8/100

Walgreens Boots Alliance's social score of 8.8 puts it squarely in the 2nd percentile of companies rated in the same sector. This could suggest that Walgreens Boots Alliance is a leader in its sector when it comes to taking good care of its workforce and the communities it impacts.

Walgreens Boots Alliance's governance score

Governance score: 2.48/100

Walgreens Boots Alliance's governance score puts it squarely in the 2nd percentile of companies rated in the same sector. That could suggest that Walgreens Boots Alliance is a leader in its sector when it comes to responsible management and strategy, and exposed to a lower level of risk.

Walgreens Boots Alliance's controversy score

Controversy score: 3/5

ESG scores also evaluate any incidences of controversy that a company has been involved in. Walgreens Boots Alliance scored a 3 out of 5 for controversy – a middle-of-the-table result reflecting that Walgreens Boots Alliance hasn't always managed to keep its nose clean.

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) summary

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc was last rated for ESG on: 2020-08-01.

Total ESG score	15.29
Total ESG percentile	14.5
Environmental score	4.01
Environmental score percentile	2
Social score	8.8
Social score percentile	2
Governance score	2.48
Governance score percentile	2
Level of controversy	3

Walgreens Boots Alliance share dividends

Dividend payout ratio: 215.29% of net profits

Recently Walgreens Boots Alliance has paid out, on average, around 215.29% of net profits as dividends. That has enabled analysts to estimate a "forward annual dividend yield" of 5.34% of the current stock value. This means that over a year, based on recent payouts (which are sadly no guarantee of future payouts), Walgreens Boots Alliance shareholders could enjoy a 5.34% return on their shares, in the form of dividend payments. In Walgreens Boots Alliance's case, that would currently equate to about $1.87 per share.

Walgreens Boots Alliance'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.

Walgreens Boots Alliance's most recent dividend payout was on 11 September 2020. The latest dividend was paid out to all shareholders who bought their shares by 18 August 2020 (the "ex-dividend date").

Have Walgreens Boots Alliance's shares ever split?

Walgreens Boots Alliance's shares were split on a 2:1 basis on 16 February 1999. So if you had owned 1 share the day before before the split, the next day you'd have owned 2 shares. This wouldn't directly have changed the overall worth of your Walgreens Boots Alliance shares – just the quantity. However, indirectly, the new 50% lower share price could have impacted the market appetite for Walgreens Boots Alliance shares which in turn could have impacted Walgreens Boots Alliance's share price.

Walgreens Boots Alliance share price volatility

Over the last 12 months, Walgreens Boots Alliance's shares have ranged in value from as little as $33.88 up to $64.5. 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 (NASDAQ average) beta is 1, while Walgreens Boots Alliance's is 0.4292. This would suggest that Walgreens Boots Alliance's shares are less volatile than average (for this exchange).

Walgreens Boots Alliance overview

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. operates as a pharmacy-led health and wellbeing company. It operates through three segments: Retail Pharmacy USA, Retail Pharmacy International, and Pharmaceutical Wholesale. The Retail Pharmacy USA segment sells prescription drugs and an assortment of retail products, including health, wellness, beauty, personal care, consumable, and general merchandise products through its retail drugstores and convenient care clinics. It also provides specialty pharmacy services and mail services; and manages in-store clinics. As of August 31, 2019, this segment operated 9,277 retail stores under the Walgreens and Duane Reade brands in the United States; and 6 specialty pharmacies. The Retail Pharmacy International segment sells prescription drugs; and health and wellness, beauty, personal care, and other consumer products through its pharmacy-led health and beauty stores and optical practices, as well as through boots.com and an integrated mobile application. This segment operated 4,605 retail stores under the Boots, Benavides, and Ahumada in the United Kingdom, Thailand, Norway, the Republic of Ireland, the Netherlands, Mexico, and Chile; and 606 optical practices, including 165 on a franchise basis. The Pharmaceutical Wholesale segment engages in the wholesale and distribution of specialty and generic pharmaceuticals, health and beauty products, and home healthcare supplies and equipment, as well as provides related services to pharmacies and other healthcare providers. This segment operates in the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Turkey, Spain, the Netherlands, Egypt, Norway, Romania, the Czech Republic, and Lithuania. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a strategic partnership with Microsoft and Adobe to launch second phase of digital transformation at the intersection of health and technology. The company was founded in 1901 and is based in Deerfield, Illinois.

Frequently asked questions

• What percentage of Walgreens Boots Alliance is owned by insiders or institutions?

  Currently 22.248% of Walgreens Boots Alliance shares are held by insiders and 60.614% by institutions.

• How many people work for Walgreens Boots Alliance?

  Latest data suggests 232,000 work at Walgreens Boots Alliance.

• When does the fiscal year end for Walgreens Boots Alliance?

  Walgreens Boots Alliance's fiscal year ends in August.

• Where is Walgreens Boots Alliance based?

  Walgreens Boots Alliance's address is: 108 Wilmot Road, Deerfield, IL, United States, 60015

• What is Walgreens Boots Alliance's ISIN number?

  Walgreens Boots Alliance's international securities identification number is: US9314271084

• What is Walgreens Boots Alliance's CUSIP number?

  Walgreens Boots Alliance's Committee on Uniform Securities Identification Procedures number is: 931422109