British American Tobacco (LON:BATS) Sets New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

British American Tobacco p.l.c. (LON:BATS) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as GBX 4,673 and last traded at GBX 4,630.79, with a volume of 41040918 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at GBX 4,635.13.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on BATS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on British American Tobacco from GBX 3,300 to GBX 4,150 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 26th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a GBX 5,200 price objective on shares of British American Tobacco in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted 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. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of British American Tobacco from GBX 4,450 to GBX 4,850 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 28th. Three equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of GBX 4,500.

British American Tobacco Trading Down 0.1%

The firm has a market capitalization of £100.47 billion, a PE ratio of 33.24, a P/E/G ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 74.63, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.88. The firm has a fifty day moving average of GBX 4,322.62 and a 200 day moving average of GBX 4,180.97.

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

About British American Tobacco

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.