While the previous several years could have been better for BT Group, the company has heavily invested in upgrading its telecommunication infrastructure. It has pledged to reduce its expenditure to foster much-needed growth. Many investors have taken this, coupled with the relatively low stock price compared to the past performance, as a signal that the right time to buy BT shares is now. This guide will explain how to buy BT shares in the UK and follow you through the process. You will learn how to choose the optimal investing service, keep your investment secure, and the pros and cons of investing in BT.
Highly Rated Stock Trading & Investing Platform
-
Invest in 2,800+ stocks and other assets including 70+ cryptocurrencies and commodities.
-
0% commission on buying stocks - buy in bulk or just a fraction from as little as $10. Other fees apply. For more information, visit etoro.com/trading/fees.
-
Copy top-performing traders in real time, automatically.
-
eToro USA is registered with FINRA for securities trading.
What is BT?
To tackle the poor performance of its shares and the fact that rival companies took over some of its share of the market in the recent past, the telecom giant has massively invested in fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) and 5G communication rollout that should replace its legacy features. The company also aims to boost customer experience and retention rate for global products and services.
The combined effort managed to halt the trend of decline and keep the line flat during 2022. This may not sound like much, but it may indicate a turn for the better for BT.
Furthermore, BT.A is a constituent of the FTSE 100 index.
Where to buy BT shares?
People without experience in trading stocks usually think the process is too complicated. On the contrary, investing in stocks in the UK and buying BT shares takes as little as a couple of minutes and is done quickly in a straightforward procedure.
Naturally, you can employ a professional to purchase the shares, but investing yourself is more optimal. The only thing you need for this is an online investing platform like eToro.
Before spending money on stocks, ensure you understand what investing entails. Buying BT shares does not guarantee you will earn a profit. You are liable to lose your investment at all times. Let us observe each step of the process and describe buying BT shares from start to finish.
How to buy BT shares: step-by-step
Since the LSE publicly lists BT Group shares, traders can obtain BT.A with an intermediary investing platform.
Step 1: Choose a broker
Before buying BT shares, the first thing to do is create an account with an online investing platform. While you can find many third-party investing services online, finding the right one is the first vital task that depends on your trading personality and personal characteristics.
For example, active and passive trading methods ask divergent amounts of time and effort from investors. Day trading is a labor-intensive and time-sensitive occupation that may require advanced tools and intricate trading features. Passive investing is hands-off, and you can perform well with easy-to-use options.
There are balanced investing platforms that you can use regardless of your methods.
To safely and efficiently invest in BT shares, consider these platforms:
1. eToro
Opting for the best platform can be a lengthy and arduous task. If you want a top-tier candidate without spending hours of research, consider buying BT shares via eToro, a platform that provides:
- Commission-free stock trading;
- 2,000+ stocks from 17 exchanges;
- Fractional shares available;
- User-friendly platform.
Highly Rated Stock Trading & Investing Platform
-
Invest in 2,800+ stocks and other assets including 70+ cryptocurrencies and commodities.
-
0% commission on buying stocks - buy in bulk or just a fraction from as little as $10. Other fees apply. For more information, visit etoro.com/trading/fees.
-
Copy top-performing traders in real time, automatically.
-
eToro USA is registered with FINRA for securities trading.
2. Interactive Brokers (IBKR)
Similarly effective and popular among investors, Interactive Brokers allows purchasing BT stock with the following features:
- Commission-free stock trading;
- Global stock-trading on 90+ market centers;
- Fractional shares available;
- Extra income on fully paid shares;
- Lowest financing rates for margin accounts in the industry;
- No account minimum.
Best Platform for Worldwide Stock Trading & Investing
-
Highly trusted multi-asset broker with clients in over 200 countries
-
Trade on 150 markets globally from a single platform (stocks, ETFs, futures, currencies, crypto & more)
-
Low commissions starting at $0 with no platform fees or account minimums
-
Easily fund your account and trade assets in 26 currencies
-
IBKR pays up to 4.58% interest on cash balances of $10k or more
When choosing a suitable brokerage, consider these aspects:
- Fees: Some brokerages like eToro do not charge commissions when trading stock and ETFs. While you want as lower fees as possible, this should never take total precedence over the rest of the aspects;
- Security: Safety and security should be your priorities in stock trading. Check with the FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) and PRA (Prudential Regulation Authority) whether they validate your brokerage platform and look for policies such as two-factor authentication (2FA) and SSL technology;
- Trading tools: The features you need should be based on your investing style and needs. Advanced tools are more challenging and costly, so sticking to straightforward solutions sometimes works better than using cutting-edge software. In other words, if you are new to stock trading, stick to beginner-friendly platforms;
- Access to market data: Focus on services that provide concise and precise information and market research to increase the accuracy of your investing predictions;
- Fractional stock trading: Fractional shares enable investors to buy less or more than a whole number of shares. It is an efficient way of diversifying portfolios and setting up a dollar-cost averaging strategy.
Also, traders can opt for online, full-service brokers or discount brokers, as well as robo-advisors.
Step 2: Fund your account
Once you create an account with the investing platform, you have to link it to a deposit and transfer the funds. The available payment methods vary across different platforms. Still, the common ones include a debit, credit, or prepaid card, using a money-transfer service, and linking a bank account directly.
Step 3: Research the company
Investors should perform the necessary research before buying stocks, which is crucial to a successful investing campaign. Before you purchase any BT shares, gather the latest data about the current stock price, its historical performance, public opinion of BT Group, and sufficient press coverage of the company’s business trajectory.
A suitable place to start is the London Stock Exchange’s website, followed by BT’s official page, which releases annual and quarterly reports and other articles of interest to investors.
Step 4: Decide how much you want to invest
When you finish your research, you must ascertain how many shares you want to buy.
The two main factors to consider are the current price of BT shares and the amount of cash you wish to invest in the company. If you have multiple companies that you are willing to buy shares from, feel free to use our stock average calculator and calculate the average share price for your portfolio.
Remember
Step 5: Place your order and buy BT shares
Once you are done with all your preparations, it is time to execute the transaction and purchase the stock. You will begin with placing an order. Log into your platform of choice (eToro in our case), type in the BT.A ticker in the search bar, open it and specify the amount.
There are a few different types of orders you can place:
- Market order: The most straightforward order you can make, the market order immediately purchases the stock at the current price. The order will go through as soon as the exchange is open and the shares are available for sale;
- Limit order: A limit order gets executed if the share price does not exceed the specified price range. For example, you want to buy BT shares at £1 or lower. The order goes through when the price conditions are fulfilled (in this case, £1 or lower);
- Options contract: Options speculation offers leverage at a portion of the cost of the investment asset. A call option allows investors to profit if the stock price rises, and a put option enables them to benefit if the stock price falls. Derivative products can only be traded on a margin account, which typically has higher minimum balance requirements than standard brokerage accounts.
Step 6: Monitor your investment
Buying individual stocks makes for an active trading method and requires large amounts of time and effort. Unlike passively investing in bonds and ETFs, single-stock investments need traders to monitor their portfolios regularly.
The stock market conditions tend to shift, and whether it’s the right call to buy or sell depends on a large number of factors, including company performance, price trends, global economic status, sector-specific events, and media coverage of the business.
Keep a watch over these conditions and cross-check them with your stock portfolio to keep updated on the right time to buy or sell.
BT shares price UK
Should I buy BT shares?
The right time to buy BT shares is affected by your level of risk tolerance and the quality of data available.
We have mentioned the merits of performing the necessary research on BT via fundamental analysis, but we recommend you consider some technical factors as well. Technical analysis reads through various indicators, chart patterns, and trends (such as moving averages and oscillators) to produce time-sensitive instructions on buying or selling.
This gauge displays a real-time technical analysis overview for your specified timeframe.
Disclaimer: TradingView does not recommend trading financial instruments based exclusively on the advice of the Technical Rating indicator. These recommendations cannot predict future movements and are meant as assistance for spotting potentially favorable buy/sell conditions if this is consistent with their strategy.
Common mistakes to avoid when investing
All traders take the wrong step occasionally. Mistakes will damage your potential profits, but most of them do not mean the total collapse of your portfolio. You should still try and make as few mistakes as you can. Optimally, you should learn from mistakes other investors have made. For example, some of them boil down to:
- Lack of research: Many missteps occur because of incomplete research. You should never buy shares without gathering the relevant information;
- Lack of strategy: Clearly set your financial goals before you invest to be able to come up with a sound strategy;
- Short-term thinking: Moves made under stress and emotional upheaval tend to be wrong. Steadying your nerves and thinking of your plans in tight situations is crucial to success;
- Staking everything on one asset: Having a diverse portfolio is not mandatory, but not adhering to this practice can cost you massive amounts of money if the individual stock you sink your money in crashes;
- Inexperienced use of leverage: Leverage means borrowing money to prop up your investment. It has a high potential win ratio and fast speed of return but also carries dangerous levels of risk. Avoid using leverage if you do not fully understand the consequences;
- Falling prey to scams: Avoid foggy deals and suspicious platforms. Always check whether the brokerage you rely on and the commodities you buy are legitimate.
How to sell BT shares?
Whether your shares are ripe for sale or the current circumstances made you consider the option, selling your BT shares is as simple as buying them in the first place.
You need to log into your brokerage account, navigate toward the stocks section, spot BT shares, type in the amount you want to offload, and press sell. Optionally, you can place a limit order to sell if the price suits you only.
Pros and cons of buying BT shares
Understanding the pros and cons of investing in BT Group shares can help you decide whether you should:
Pros
- Pledge for innovation: BT has invested heavily into modern infrastructure to replace much of the legacy services and products and embrace the technological trends, which can mean that the returns on these investments will increase its performance;
- Management mindset: The management of BT is quick to acknowledge the reality of its performance and seems ready to make difficult decisions to stay afloat and start growing again. The pressure to roll out new technologies quickly and begin cutting costs, although not guaranteed, shows a will to stay the leading telecommunications group in the UK;
- High liquidity: Stocks and shares, both in general and specifically those of BT, can be easily bought and sold for money.
Cons
- High debt: To fund its infrastructure upgrade, BT had to raise a significant amount of debt that is not likely to shrink soon. While the company has pledged to cut costs, the results have yet to show;
- Competition: Two other telecom companies, Virgin Media and O2, merged in 2021 and made rivaling BT one of their goals. If BT does not secure its position and increase its pace, it risks falling below the competition;
- High volatility: Stocks and shares are highly volatile, but BT shares have high volatility even among their peers, with a -32.3% decline in 2022 and +38% growth from in 2023.
Conclusion
In short, investing in BT Group shares is a simple process that anyone can do. The trick is to know when to invest and how to be safe when investing, which this guide has tried to point out.
Monitor your investment, research thoroughly, and stay clear of compromised goods and services. Make sure to follow the instructions carefully. Only invest what you can afford.
Disclaimer: The content on this site should not be considered investment advice. Investing is speculative. When investing, your capital is at risk.
FAQs about buying BT shares
What is BT?
BT is the largest telecom group in the UK. Based in London, it provides products and services around the world. Recently it has pledged to embrace the newest technology in an effort to stay ahead of the competition, which can be taken as a green flag for investors.
How to invest in BT?
The best way to invest in BT is to buy its shares using a third-party platform like eToro.
How to buy BT shares?
BT is a publicly-listed business, so anyone can buy the stock without limitations. The best way to purchase BT.A shares is to use eToro as an intermediary investment platform.
Should I buy BT shares?
Whether you should buy BT shares is based on many factors, including risk tolerance, portfolio size, investing experience, and financial objectives.
Where to buy BT shares?
You can buy BT shares at several online brokerages. Our recommendation is to go with eToro.
Highly Rated Stock Trading & Investing Platform
-
Invest in 2,800+ stocks and other assets including 70+ cryptocurrencies and commodities.
-
0% commission on buying stocks - buy in bulk or just a fraction from as little as $10. Other fees apply. For more information, visit etoro.com/trading/fees.
-
Copy top-performing traders in real time, automatically.
-
eToro USA is registered with FINRA for securities trading.
