British American Tobacco (LON:BATS) Hits New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

British American Tobacco p.l.c. (LON:BATS)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as GBX 4,647 and last traded at GBX 4,540.06, with a volume of 2616433 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at GBX 4,569.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BATS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of British American Tobacco from GBX 3,300 to GBX 4,150 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 26th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of British American Tobacco from GBX 4,450 to GBX 4,850 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 28th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a GBX 5,200 target price on shares of British American Tobacco in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on British American Tobacco from GBX 4,400 to GBX 4,900 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of GBX 4,500.

British American Tobacco Trading Down 0.6%

The business has a 50-day simple moving average of GBX 4,290.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of GBX 4,169.11. The company has a market cap of £98.50 billion, a PE ratio of 32.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 74.63.

British American Tobacco (LON:BATS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported GBX 176.76 EPS for the quarter. British American Tobacco had a negative return on equity of 25.94% and a negative net margin of 52.84%. On average, analysts predict that British American Tobacco p.l.c. will post 361.5079365 EPS for the current fiscal year.

British American Tobacco Company Profile

BAT was founded in 1902 and was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1912. A constituent of the FTSE 100 since its creation in 1984, we have evolved, becoming the only truly global company in our sector.

BAT is transforming and is well positioned with a global footprint and multi-category portfolio. Our corporate purpose is to build A Better Tomorrow™, reducing the health impact of our business, by offering adult consumers a greater choice of enjoyable and less risky*† products compared to cigarettes.