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8 Often Overlooked Things To Consider Before Buying a Stock

Before you invest, these overlooked details could make all the difference.

By Chris Adam

Edited by Michael Kurko

Updated Dec. 17, 2024

When you’re looking to invest in stocks, it’s not a simple matter of instantly knowing which to buy and then pushing a button. Research can be a very valuable part of investing.

Here’s a look at eight things that may be overlooked before buying a stock. They may be steps you want to take as an investor.

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Figure out your goals

This may seem like an obvious initial step, but it can be easy to forget in the rush of planning to buy a stock. Take a step back and think about your goals.

Focus on the purpose of your portfolio. It may seem like an obvious one: to make money. Go further and consider whether you want to use the money you could earn from investing to earn more income in retirement, preserve your wealth, or see capital appreciation.

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Know yourself as an investor

One reason to figure out your goals in the beginning, is because they can vary among investors.

If you’re looking for income, you’ll probably be considering stocks that regularly pay good dividends. For wealth preservation, look at stable blue-chip corporations. That’s because if you’re investing for wealth preservation, you probably have lower risk tolerance.

You probably have a much higher risk tolerance if you’re an investor looking for capital appreciation.

Keep diversification in mind

If you’ve been doing some research on investing and the stock market, you might be familiar with the idea of diversification. You may want to have some variety in how you invest so that all of your money isn’t in a single sector or strategy.

But, just because you consider yourself more of an income-gaining investor, that doesn’t mean your diversified portfolio can’t include more aggressive options. It’s okay if you find the best option for you is a mix of things.

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Do your research

The best advice when it comes to research may be not to buy a stock until you know a lot about the company. You can hop on your favorite search engine, find the company’s website, and do a deep dive into it.

You want to understand how the company makes money. You could start with resources from the SEC. Be careful that any information you find online or otherwise is verified.

Check out price-to-earnings ratios

This can be an important piece of information when thinking about which stocks to buy.

Price-to-earnings (P/E) ratios are used for measuring a company’s current share price relative to its per-share earnings. You can find the P/E by comparing the current market price with the cumulative earnings from the last four quarters.

You may determine that you’ll go with stocks with lower P/E ratios. Or you may decide to take a closer look beyond the ratios.

Stay updated

As an investor, you might find it helps to stay updated with the latest financial news and perhaps opinions. You can make staying aware of the daily news and trends that impact the economy and companies a part of your research.

Remember, don’t get discouraged if a stock you like doesn’t line up with your daily news consumption. You know yourself and your financial goals. Stick to those goals as you work to select stocks to buy.

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Sort through the options

Your research may have left you with one stock option or a bunch. Now, you need to go back and think about your investing goals. You can see which of your options line up with those goals.

You could also consider which industries may be the best for you now. Remember, part of picking stocks to buy is knowing which ones are best to avoid for you.

Buy the correct security

This is a reminder to make sure you’re buying the one you intend to buy. It would be a shame to have done all that research only to end up with a mistake.

It might not seem obvious, but there can easily be confusion. Stock symbols may have up to five letters and perhaps resemble the name of multiple companies. Further, symbols can be changed.

Just be sure that when you place your order, the symbol you enter is for the company you desire.

Bottom line

A lot of careful planning can go into the process of buying a stock. Background research on companies can provide crucial information you need as an investor.

You can make informed decisions that will help you build wealth. You may also want to work with a financial advisor to avoid mistakes.

More from FinanceBuzz:

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