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Table of Contents
J Sainsbury plc is a UK-based merchandiser and retailer whose brands include Argos, Habitat, Tu and Nectar.
The company has over 600 supermarkets, more than 800 convenience stores, and a workforce of more than 152,000.
However, the past success of J Sainsbury is no indicator of future performance and anyone thinking about investing should consider researching the company more thoroughly to better understand its potential benefits and risks.
Investing puts your capital at risk, and investors should be prepared to lose some or all of their investment.
How to buy J Sainsbury shares
With this in mind, and once you’ve satisfied yourself regarding the reasons for buying shares in a particular company, there are several steps to take:
1) Open an account
Whether you’re a seasoned trader or someone new to stock market-based investments, if you want to buy shares in J Sainsbury, you’ll need an account with a broker.
Stockbroking is competitive and services for DIY investors range from online investing platforms to investment trading apps.
Before opening an account, remember it is important to:
- Keep your financial goals in mind
- Be prepared to ride out stock market ups and downs
- Keep trading costs to a minimum
- Remember that share investing can prompt tax charges.
And before buying any shares, ask yourself these questions:
- Should I take professional advice?
- Am I comfortable with the level of risk?
- What’s my budget?
- Can I afford to lose money?
- Do I understand the company in which I’m looking to invest?
- Am I protected if my platform provider/advisor goes out of business?
2) Know where is J Sainsbury is traded
The ticker symbol for J Sainsbury is SBRY and the company is traded on the London Stock Exchange, whose trading hours are 8am till 4.30pm Monday to Friday.
Any profit made on shares, regardless of what exchange they are traded on, will be subject to capital gains tax (CGT), unless you hold the shares in an individual savings account (ISA) or self-invested personal pension (SIPP).
Tax treatment depends on one’s individual circumstances and may be subject to future change. The content of this article is provided for information purposes only and is not intended to be, nor does it constitute, any form of tax advice.
3) Do your research
To find out more about Sainsbury’s, visit its investor relations page.
4) What’s your investing strategy?
People tend to invest either with a lump sum purchase or via smaller, regular amounts.
The latter method is often referred to as ‘pound cost averaging’, which may help you pay less per share on average over time. Rather than waiting to build up a lump sum, it means an investor’s money is put to use straight away.
5) Place an order
Once you’re ready to buy shares in Sainsbury, log in to your investing account or trading app. Type in the ticker symbol SBRY and the number of shares you want to buy, or the amount of money you want to invest.
6) Review Sainsbury’s performance
Whether your share portfolio is full of companies or holds a handful of stocks, we believe it’s vital you review how each component is performing: monthly, quarterly, annually, or whichever frequency is appropriate.
This enables you to review performance and ask if any adjustments to your holdings are required.
J Sainsbury stock price performance
The graph below displays the past performance of J Sainsbury. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results.
10 January 2025: Third Quarter 2024-25 Sales Performance/Trading Statement
- Retail sales (exc fuel) up 2.8% on same period in 2023
- Sales (inc fuel) at 0.0%
- Total sales up 3.7%: Grocery sales up 4.1%; General merchandise & clothing sales down 0.1%; Argos sales down 1.4%; Fuel sales down 17.4
- Like-for-like retail sales (exc fuel) up 3.4%
- Company expects to deliver full year retail underlying operating profit in line with consensus and the midpoint of its £1.010m-£1,060m guidance range, representing growth of around 7%. This reflects continued operating leverage from its grocery volume growth, strong growth in Nectar profit contribution and delivery of cost saving targets
- Company expects total financial services underlying operating profit to be around £30m (previous guidance between £15m and £25m)
- J Sainsbury plc normally pays an interim dividend each December (Dec 2024: 3.90 pence per share) and a final dividend for the previous financial year in July.
How to sell J Sainsbury shares
If you want to sell some or all of your holdings, log in to your investing platform, enter the ticker symbol and select the amount that you want to sell.
If you’ve made a substantial profit, you may be liable to pay CGT when you sell your holdings, especially if your shares were held outside a tax-exempt wrapper such as an ISA.
The CGT tax-free allowance for the tax year 2024-25 is £3,000. Find out more about CGT, rates and allowances.
Be mindful that the content of this article is provided for information purposes only and is not intended to be, nor does it constitute, any form of tax advice.
Why consider owning stocks?
Before buying shares in any company ask yourself why you’re taking that decision. Does the company have potential prospects with a share price that could go from strength to strength?
Is there takeover talk in the offing that could potentially drive up a company’s share price?
Maybe the company you’ve identified is on a recovery mission and its share price is starting to recover from previous lows.
How to invest in J Sainsbury via a fund
Investing directly in individual stocks can be an absorbing and, hopefully, profitable experience. It may also qualify you for shareholder perks specific to the company in question.
However, investing directly in individual companies can leave you more vulnerable to stock market volatility as well as unforeseen swings in share prices.
That’s why financial experts tend to recommend that most people invest in a diversified mix of asset classes and investment funds that hold hundreds, if not thousands, of company shares.
Being a major component of the London Stock Exchange, J Sainsbury is found in many funds incorporating a bias towards the UK.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does J Sainsbury pay a dividend?
J Sainsbury plc normally pays an interim dividend each December and a final dividend for the previous financial year in July.
While Sainsbury has a track record of paying dividends, like all quoted companies, there is no guarantee that it will pay dividends in the future.
Can I buy J Sainsbury shares with a debit card?
Yes, in the sense that you’d need to add funds using a form of method of payment. One option is using an appointed card to an existing online investing service or trading app before making the share trade from there.
What does it cost to trade J Sainsbury shares?
This will vary depending on the investment service/platform that an investor is using to trade.
Broadly speaking, there are three main types of fees. First is a share trading fee that investors are charged by a platform each time they buy or sell shares.
Note that some platforms charge no fee for this activity, while others may charge a flat fee of typically between £6 and £12.
Second comes the platform fee which is typically levied as an annual fee charged for holding shares on a particular investing platform. Again, some providers impose no fee, others charge a flat fee, and some services charge a percentage, typically 0.25% to.0.45% per annum of the underlying portfolio.
If you buy or sell shares denominated in a foreign currency, nearly all of the investing platforms charge a foreign exchange fee. Again, this will vary among providers, but tends to sit in a range from 0.5% to 1.5% per transaction.
Investments in a currency other than sterling are exposed to currency exchange risk. Currency exchange rates are constantly changing which may affect the value of the investment in sterling terms.
You could lose money in sterling even if the stock price rises in the currency of origin. Stocks listed on overseas exchanges may be subject to additional dealing and exchange rate charges, and may have other tax implications, and may not provide the same, or any, regulatory protection as in the UK.
