In the industry of investing, knowing when to buy a stock sometimes seems easier than determining when to sell a stock. Regardless, selling a stock at the right time is also crucial to cap the profit, just like buying a stock timely.
There could be several good reasons for selling your holdings, both to stem losses prior to them growing too large or to lock in profits at the perfect time. The key to timing an exit is all about having technical and fundamental indicators, like a goal in mind, stock price.
5 Major Strategies to Help you Decide About Selling a Stock
Here are 5 major strategies which can help you with deciding the proper time of selling a stock. Rather than picking only a single perk and neglecting others will not be able to get you the best deal.
1. It Hits your Price Target
At the time of buying a stock, sharp investors set a price target or at least set a price range in which they would think about the selling stock. Every stock purchase also should include analysis, particularly on the stock’s worth.
In addition to this, the current price also has to be at a substantial discount to the estimated value. For example, sell out a stock when it doubles its price, and also an investor thinks that it is undervalued by 50%.
2. Deterioration in the Fundamentals
Investors can monitor along with keeping track of the stock price of a firm with the help of a free portfolio tracker, and that too after confirming a price target, monitoring how the underlying business is performing is crucial. If the business fundamentals decline, this can be a key reason for selling a stock on time.
In an ideal world, before the stock price starts to decline, an investor will realize a deterioration in cash flow, profit margins, sales, or any other key operating fundamentals. Analysts with more experience may go deep into financial statements.
3. After a Merger
The average price, or takeover premium at which a particular company is bought out, normally ranges from 20% to 40%. In case an investor is lucky to own a stock that is ending up being acquired for a significant premium, selling a stock it may be the best course of action.
There might be some important, more straightforward reasons for owning the stock after the whole process of merging is completed, but the track records of being successful are really low for mergers. Apart from that, in order to complete a deal, it can take several months.
4. A Better Opportunity Comes Along
By going with an alternative, one can obtain the benefit of opportunity cost. Before owning a specific stock, it is better to always compare it with the potential gains that you could obtain from owning another stock.
In case the alternative is better, then it makes total sense to buy that one and sell the current position. It is extremely difficult to accurately identify opportunity costs. But you can invest in a competitor in case it is having equally promising growth prospects along with trades at a lower valuation.
5. After Bankruptcy
Well, isn’t it obvious? Becoming worthless to shareholders is the majority number of cases for any bankrupt company. But for tax purposes, it is vital to sell or get the loss so that it is utilized for offsetting future capital gains.
A small percentage of regular income each year is also included. You may encounter a huge loss for selling a stock right after bankruptcy, but you might be able to recover some part of the dollars that you have invested.
Final Talks
So, when you are thinking of selling a stock, make sure you are considering these strategies. When your only motto is to earn more returns from the money that you have invested, you need to play really smart and can not make immediate decisions without considering the necessary factors. In the world of investment, time plays a vital role in both the cases of buying and selling a stocks.
