How to buy Royal Mail shares

Everything you need to know about buying Royal Mail shares, including the live RMG share price.

How to buy Royal Mail shares Compare share dealing platforms

Royal Mail PLC

LSE: IDS - GBX

£221.40

+ £1.20 ( + 0.55%)

INTEGRATED FREIGHT & LOGISTICS

Buy Royal Mail Shares

Royal Mail PLC (IDS) is a publicly traded integrated freight and logistics business based in the UK. In the week up to 13 March Royal Mail shares plunged 9.73% to a closing position of 220.8p. Over the last 12 months, Royal Mail's share price has fallen by 37.92% from 354.7p. Royal Mail is listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and employs 164,313 staff. All prices are listed in pence sterling.

How to buy shares in Royal Mail

Choose a platform. If you're a beginner, our share-dealing table below can help you choose.
Open your account. You'll need your ID, bank details and national insurance number.
Confirm your payment details. You'll need to fund your account with a bank transfer, debit card or credit card.
Search the platform for stock code: IDS in this case.
Research Royal Mail shares. The platform should provide the latest information available.
Buy your Royal Mail shares. It's that simple.

The whole process can take as little as 15 minutes. You'll need a smartphone or computer, an internet connection, your passport or driving licence and a means of payment.

Our top picks for where to buy Royal Mail shares:

Best for

Beginner investments

BEST FOR

Welcome Bonus

Best for

0% commission

Best for

Beginners

To choose the best investment app for each category, our experts analysed 83 different metrics for the investment platforms we've reviewed on our site. We've hand-picked the metrics we think are important for each category to help us find the best in 17 categories among our high-scoring partners. There are also "promoted" picks on some pages. They're based on factors that include special features or offers and the commission we receive. It's important to compare the full range of platforms available and keep in mind our picks may not always be the best fit for you.

Fees for buying 100x Royal Mail shares with popular platforms

Share prices fluctuate in real time, so the costs presented here should be considered as a guide only. They do not incorporate stamp duty. Always refer to the platform itself for availability and pricing – which may differ from our information.

Customer rating	Platform fee	Min. initial deposit	Trading fee estimate
★★★★★	£0	£1	£0.00 £220.20 total	Go to site Capital at risk
★★★★★	£0	$50	£0.00 £220.20 total	Go to site Capital at risk
★★★★★	£0	£250	£8.00 £228.20 total	Go to site Capital at risk
Not yet rated	£0	No minimum	£0.00 £220.20 total	Go to site Capital at risk
★★★★★	£0	No minimum	£0.00 £220.20 total	Go to site Capital at risk
★★★★★	£0	£1	£11.95 £232.15 total	Go to site Capital at risk
★★★★★	£0	£0.01	£1.78 £221.98 total	Go to site Capital at risk

Full comparison of share dealing platforms

All investing should be regarded as longer term. The value of your investments can go up and down, and you may get back less than you invest. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. If you’re not sure which investments are right for you, please seek out a financial adviser. Capital at risk.

Alternative ways to invest in Royal Mail

Buying shares in just one company can leave you more exposed to unexpected swings in the market than if you have a range of investments - a "diversified portfolio". Experts generally recommend having a broad mix of assets and funds that hold a ready-made portfolio of at least 50 different companies' shares, on the basis that drops in the value of some will be offset by rises elsewhere.
Royal Mail is a major part of the LSE index, so it's included in many global funds and investment trusts, as well as tracker-style exchange traded funds (ETFs).

Fund	5-year growth	1-year growth (to February 2023)	Link to invest
Vanguard FTSE 250 UCITS ETF Distributing (VMID)	15.11%	-5.78%	Invest with FreetradeCapital at risk
Invesco FTSE 250 UCITS ETF (S250)	15.42%	-5.08%	Invest with IGCapital at risk
iShares FTSE 250 UCITS ETF (MIDD)	14.33%	-5.30%	Invest with eToroCapital at risk
HSBC FTSE 250 UCITS ETF GBP (HMCX)	14.31%	-5.30%	Invest with IGCapital at risk
Xtrackers FTSE 250 UCITS ETF 1D (XMCX)	14.42%	-5.92%	Invest with IGCapital at risk

Is it a good time to buy Royal Mail stock?

Only you can make the decision on the time to leap. The gauge below shows real-time ratings that are based on 26 popular indicators such as moving averages, for specific time periods. It's not a recommendation but is simply technical analysis that can form part of your research.

Finder might not agree with the analysis and we take no responsibility. We also give no representations or warranty on the accuracy or completeness of the information provided on this page.

Use our graph to track the performance of IDS stocks over time.
Share price volatility

Over the last 12 months, Royal Mail's shares have ranged in value from as little as 173.65p up to 347.0832p. 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 (LSE average) beta is 1, while Royal Mail's is 1.6785. This would suggest that Royal Mail's shares are more volatile than the average for this exchange and represent, relatively-speaking, a higher risk (but potentially also market-beating returns).

To put Royal Mail's beta into context you can compare it against those of similar companies.
- Amazon-com (AMZN.US): 1.2536

1 week (2023-03-21)	-4.63%
1 month (2023-02-28)	-6.38%
6 months (2022-09-28)	17.63%
1 year (2022-03-25)	-38.85%
2 years (2021-03-26)	-57.47%
3 years (2020-03-27)	64.94%
5 years (2018-03-27)	-58.61%

Invest in Royal Mail shares with IG

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More than 13,000 shares to invest in
Open your account in minutes

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Capital at risk

Is Royal Mail under- or over-valued?

Valuing a stock is incredibly difficult, and any metric has to be viewed as part of a bigger picture of overall performance. However, analysts commonly use some key metrics to help gauge value. Check out the Royal Mail P/E ratio, PEG ratio and EBITDA

P/E ratio
Royal Mail EBITDA

Royal Mail's current share price divided by its per-share earnings (EPS) over a 12-month period gives a "trailing price/earnings ratio" of roughly 8x. In other words, Royal Mail shares trade at around 8x recent earnings.

That's relatively low compared to, say, the trailing 12-month P/E ratio for the FTSE 250 at the end of September 2019 (19.71). The low P/E ratio could mean that investors are pessimistic about the outlook for the shares or simply that they're under-valued.

However, Royal Mail's P/E ratio is best considered in relation to those of others within the integrated freight & logistics industry or those of similar companies.

Royal Mail's EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) is £638 million.

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

To put that into context you can compare it against similar companies.

Amazon-com (AMZN.US): USD$54.2 billion

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Frequently asked questions

Dividend yield: 5.77% of stock value
Forward annual dividend yield: 8.1% of stock value
Dividend payout ratio: 1.42% of net profits

Royal Mail has recently paid out dividends equivalent to 5.77% of its share value annually.

Royal Mail has paid out, on average, around 1.42% of recent net profits as dividends. That has enabled analysts to estimate a "forward annual dividend yield" of 8.1% of the current stock value. This means that over a year, based on recent payouts (which are sadly no guarantee of future payouts), shareholders could enjoy a 8.1% return on their shares, in the form of dividend payments. In Royal Mail's case, that would currently equate to about 13.3p per share.

While Royal Mail's payout ratio might seem low, this can signify that the company is investing more in its future growth.

The latest dividend was paid out to all shareholders who bought their shares by 27 July 2022 (the "ex-dividend date").

Royal Mail's dividend yield is perhaps best considered in relation to those of similar companies.
- Amazon-com (AMZN.US): 0.00% (does not pay dividend)
Currently 0.486% of Royal Mail shares are held by insiders and 72.032% by institutions.
It's as easy to sell Royal Mail as it is to buy! Here's how to sell Royal Mail that you already own.
1. Open your investment app. If you've got one with desktop access, you can log in online
2. Go to your portfolio. This should be in the main menu
3. Find your shares. You may be able to search your portfolio
4. Choose how many you'd like to sell. You'll be able to review the price and see how much you'll receive
5. Sell your Royal Mail shares. Your investment platform will let you know when your shares are sold

Financials

Revenue TTM	£12.5 billion
Operating margin TTM	2.95%
Gross profit TTM	£5.2 billion
Return on assets TTM	2.34%
Return on equity TTM	5.35%
Profit margin	2.05%
Book value	4.785p
Market capitalisation	£2.1 billion

TTM: trailing 12 months

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How to buy Royal Mail shares

Everything you need to know about buying Royal Mail shares, including the live RMG share price.

How to buy shares in Royal Mail

Our top picks for where to buy Royal Mail shares:

How we chose our best trading apps

Fees for buying 100x Royal Mail shares with popular platforms

Alternative ways to invest in Royal Mail

Invest in Royal Mail via a fund

Invest in Royal Mail via FTSE 250

Is it a good time to buy Royal Mail stock?

See the technical analysis gauge

See Royal Mail share price (LSE:IDS)

What's Royal Mail price performance over time?

Invest in Royal Mail shares with IG

Is Royal Mail under- or over-valued?

Sign up for expert share trading insights

Frequently asked questions

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