Capita Share Dealing Services
Company data
Market Capitalisation - The total value at the market price of securities issued by a company, industry or market sector.
Dividend/share - The cash sum paid periodically to shareholders out of the company's profits. Ordinary share dividends are more variable since the shares represent the risk capital in a business and the dividend is only paid after prior claims have been met.
P/E ratio - The Price/Earnings ratio (P/E) is derived by dividing the current share price by its earnings per share (itself calculated by dividing the earnings figure by the number of shares in issue). The P/E figure shows how many years of earnings it would take to equal the current share price: a high figure and the share is expensive, low and it is cheap. That being said, you should not necessarily buy a company simply because the P/E is low any more than you should avoid it if the P/E is high. A high 'rating' indicates that the market expects continued strong profit growth. A low P/E indicates low expectations. The P/E ratio is, therefore, a judgement given other factors. As always, if you are in any doubt as to how best to proceed, you should seek advice from a suitably qualified professional adviser.
