How to buy UDG Healthcare (UDG) shares

How to buy shares in UDG Healthcare

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

Invest in UDG Healthcare shares with IG

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• More than 13,000 shares to invest in
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Capital at risk

Is UDG Healthcare 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

UDG Healthcare's current share price divided by its per-share earnings (EPS) over a 12-month period gives a "trailing price/earnings ratio" of roughly 42x. In other words, UDG Healthcare shares trade at around 42x recent earnings.

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

PEG ratio

UDG Healthcare's "price/earnings-to-growth ratio" can be calculated by dividing its P/E ratio by its growth – to give 3.21. 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 UDG Healthcare's future profitability. By accounting for growth, it could also help you if you're comparing the share prices of multiple high-growth companies.

EBITDA

UDG Healthcare's EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) is £193.2 million.

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

Do UDG Healthcare shares pay dividends?

• Dividend yield
• Forward yield
• Payout ratio

UDG Healthcare has recently paid out dividends equivalent to 1.16% of its share value annually.

UDG Healthcare has paid out, on average, around 48.34% of recent net profits as dividends. That has enabled analysts to estimate a "forward annual dividend yield" of 1.17% 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 1.17% return on their shares, in the form of dividend payments. In UDG Healthcare's case, that would currently equate to about 12.5p per share.

While UDG Healthcare's payout ratio might seem fairly standard, it's worth remembering that it may be investing much of the rest of its net profits in future growth.

The latest dividend was paid out to all shareholders who bought their shares by 7 January 2021 (the "ex-dividend date").

Share price volatility

Over the last 12 months, UDG Healthcare's shares have ranged in value from as little as 0p up to 0p. 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 UDG Healthcare's is 0.651. This would suggest that UDG Healthcare's shares are less volatile than average (for this exchange).

Shares similar to UDG Healthcare

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Frequently asked questions

• What percentage of UDG Healthcare is owned by insiders or institutions?

  Currently 0.337% of UDG Healthcare shares are held by insiders and 60.411% by institutions.

• How many people work for UDG Healthcare?

  Latest data suggests 9,000 work at UDG Healthcare.

• When does the fiscal year end for UDG Healthcare?

  UDG Healthcare's fiscal year ends in September.

• Where is UDG Healthcare based?

  UDG Healthcare's address is: Citywest Business Campus, Dublin, Ireland, 24

• What is UDG Healthcare's ISIN number?

  UDG Healthcare's international securities identification number is: IE0033024807

• What is the key financial information for UDG Healthcare?

  Financials

  Revenue TTM	£1.2 billion
  Operating margin TTM	11.12%
  Gross profit TTM	£398.2 million
  Return on assets TTM	4.91%
  Return on equity TTM	8.98%
  Profit margin	7.13%
  Book value	4.111p
  Market capitalisation	£2.7 billion

  TTM: trailing 12 months

• Can I buy UDG Healthcare shares with eToro?

  No. But you may have more luck with IG, Hargreaves Lansdown or Freetrade, as these platforms have a wider coverage of stocks than eToro.