How to buy Tesco (TSCO) shares

Tesco PLC (TSCO) is a leading grocery stores business based in the UK. It opened the day at 235.45p after a previous close of 234.25p. During the day the price has varied from a low of 235.0044p to a high of 238.1p. The latest price was 237.7p (25 minute delay). Tesco is listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and employs 300,000 staff. All prices are listed in pence sterling.

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How has coronavirus impacted Tesco's share price?

Since the stock market crash that started in February 2020, Tesco's share price has had significant negative movement.

Its last market close was 224p, which is 30.84% down on its pre-crash value of 323.89p (accounting for the 14 February 2021 split) and 15.19% down on the lowest point reached during the March 2020 crash when the shares fell as low as 258.02p (accounting for the 14 February 2021 split).

If you had bought £1,000 worth of Tesco shares at the start of February 2020, those shares would have been worth £852.56 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 £710.51.

Tesco share price (LSE:TSCO)

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Fees for buying 100x Tesco 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.

Platform	Platform fee	Min. initial deposit	Trading fee estimate
	£0	$200	£0.00 £237.70 total	Go to site Capital at risk
	£0	No minimum	£0.00 £237.70 total	Go to site Capital at risk
	£0	No minimum	£0.00 £237.70 total	Go to site Capital at risk
	£0	£0.01	£1.78 £239.48 total	Go to site Capital at risk
	£0	£1	£11.95 £249.65 total	Go to site Capital at risk
	£9.99 per month	No minimum	£7.99 £245.69 total	Go to site Capital at risk
	£36 per year	£20	£9.50 £247.20 total	Read review Capital at risk

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Is it a good time to buy Tesco 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 Tesco 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.

P/E ratio

Tesco's current share price divided by its per-share earnings (EPS) over a 12-month period gives a "trailing price/earnings ratio" of roughly 3x. In other words, Tesco shares trade at around 3x 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, Tesco's P/E ratio is best considered in relation to those of others within the grocery stores industry or those of similar companies.

• Wm Morrison Supermarkets (MRW.LSE): 66.64
• Walmart (WMT.US): 32.70

PEG ratio

Tesco's "price/earnings-to-growth ratio" can be calculated by dividing its P/E ratio by its growth – to give 7.1908. Higher PEG ratios such as this can be interpreted as meaning the shares offer worse value given the current rate of growth.

The PEG ratio provides a broader view than just the P/E ratio, as it gives more insight into Tesco's future profitability. By accounting for growth, it could also help you if you're comparing the share prices of multiple high-growth companies.

However, it's sensible to consider Tesco's PEG ratio in relation to those of similar companies.

• Wm Morrison Supermarkets (MRW.LSE): 9.70
• J Sainsbury (SBRY.LSE): 1.36
• Walmart (WMT.US): 3.87

EBITDA

Tesco's EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) is a whopping £3.1 billion.

The EBITDA is a measure of a Tesco'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.

• Wm Morrison Supermarkets (MRW.LSE): £784 million
• J Sainsbury (SBRY.LSE): £1.4 billion
• Walmart (WMT.US): USD$39.7 billion

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 Tesco.

Total ESG risk score

Tesco's total ESG risk: 16.54

Socially conscious investors use ESG scores to screen how an investment aligns with their worldview, and Tesco's overall score of 16.54 (as at 12/31/2018) 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 Tesco 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.).

To gain some more context, you can compare Tesco's total ESG risk score against those of similar companies.

• Wm Morrison Supermarkets (MRW.LSE): 24.38
• J Sainsbury (SBRY.LSE): 21.82
• Walmart (WMT.US): 33.72

Environmental score

Tesco's environmental score: 1.36/100

Social score

Tesco's social score: 5.97/100

Governance score

Tesco's governance score: 3.72/100

Controversy score

Tesco's controversy score: 3/5

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

Wondering how that compares? Below are the controversy scores of similar companies.

• Wm Morrison Supermarkets (MRW.LSE): 2
• J Sainsbury (SBRY.LSE): 2
• Walmart (WMT.US): 4

Tesco share dividends

• Dividend yield
• Forward yield
• Payout ratio

Tesco has recently paid out dividends equivalent to 5.00% of its share value annually.

Tesco has paid out, on average, around 7.51% of recent net profits as dividends. That has enabled analysts to estimate a "forward annual dividend yield" of 4.32% 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 4.32% return on their shares, in the form of dividend payments. In Tesco's case, that would currently equate to about 11.6p per share.

While Tesco'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 19 May 2021 (the "ex-dividend date").

Tesco's dividend yield is perhaps best considered in relation to those of similar companies.

• Wm Morrison Supermarkets (MRW.LSE): 2.65% (2.7% forward annual dividend yield)
• J Sainsbury (SBRY.LSE): 3.79% (3.81% forward annual dividend yield)
• Walmart (WMT.US): 1.54% (1.56% forward annual dividend yield)

Have Tesco's shares ever split?

Tesco's shares were split on a 15:19 basis on 14 February 2021. So if you had owned 19 shares the day before before the split, the next day you'd have owned 15 shares. This wouldn't directly have changed the overall worth of your Tesco shares – just the quantity. However, indirectly, the new 26.7% higher share price could have impacted the market appetite for Tesco shares which in turn could have impacted Tesco's share price.

Share price volatility

Over the last 12 months, Tesco's shares have ranged in value from as little as 217.0443p up to 316.9413p. 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 Tesco's is 0.4611. This would suggest that Tesco's shares are less volatile than average (for this exchange).

To put Tesco's beta into context you can compare it against those of similar companies.

• Wm Morrison Supermarkets (MRW.LSE): 0.4471
• J Sainsbury (SBRY.LSE): 0.3882
• Walmart (WMT.US): 0.475

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What stock exchanges is Tesco listed on?

In this guide, we've focused on Tesco's London Stock Exchange (LSE) listing. However, Tesco shares can be traded on multiple exchanges.

Shares similar to Tesco

Wm Morrison Supermarkets PLC

p266.62

+p1.62 (0.61%)

J Sainsbury plc

p280.43

+p0.83 (0.30%)

Naked Wines plc

p880.00

+p20.00 (2.33%)

Cake Box Holdings Plc

p318.50

+p3.50 (1.11%)

Tesco in the news

UK’s ‘pingdemic’ hits petrol stations

UK businesses criticise self-isolation changes for food supply chain workers

Families facing £160 rise in cost of food shop, industry warns

Frequently asked questions

• Does Tesco offer shares for staff?

  Yes, Tesco employees in the UK and Ireland can buy Tesco shares as part of the company's Save As You Earn (SAYE) scheme. This scheme lets Tesco staff save money and then buy shares in Tesco at a discount price each year. Employees that join the scheme have a nominated amount taken out of their pay, which is then put into a SAYE account held by Barclays. At the end of the saving period (either 3 or 5 years), staff can then choose to buy Tesco shares at a discounted rate, known as the option price. Staff also have the option to withdraw the money at any time. Employees can access and apply for the share scheme via the ESP portal. Applications generally open in October and close in November each year.

• Is now a good time to buy shares in Tesco?

  The Tesco share price has been very volatile in recent weeks, but has rebounded from its drop as a result of the coronavirus stock market crash. According to investing publications like IG and the Motley Fool, now may be a good time to buy Tesco shares as consumer demand for groceries has risen sharply as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. HSBC analysts also recently upgraded Tesco's stock rating from a "hold" to "buy" based on the market's belief that the company will perform well in 2020.

• What percentage of Tesco is owned by insiders or institutions?

  Currently 2.119% of Tesco shares are held by insiders and 65.929% by institutions.

• How many people work for Tesco?

  Latest data suggests 300,000 work at Tesco.

• When does the fiscal year end for Tesco?

  Tesco's fiscal year ends in February.

• Where is Tesco based?

  Tesco's address is: Tesco House, Welwyn Garden City, United Kingdom, AL7 1GA

• What is Tesco's ISIN number?

  Tesco's international securities identification number is: GB00BLGZ9862