British American Tobacco (LON:BATS) Stock Price Target Raised at Jefferies Financial Group

Key Points

• Jefferies raised British American Tobacco’s price target from GBX 5,500 to GBX 5,600 and maintained a “buy” rating, implying 38.81% potential upside from the current price.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive, with four buy ratings, one hold, and one sell; the consensus rating is “Moderate Buy,” with an average target of GBX 4,875.
• BATS shares were trading down 2.3% at GBX 4,034.35, while company insiders purchased 5,884 shares worth approximately £263,000 over the past three months.

British American Tobacco (LON:BATS - Get Free Report) had its price target raised by Jefferies Financial Group from GBX 5,500 to GBX 5,600 in a research note issued on Thursday, London Stock Exchange reports. The brokerage presently has a "buy" rating on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group's price target suggests a potential upside of 38.81% from the company's current price.

BATS has been the topic of several other research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "buy" rating and issued a GBX 5,100 target price on shares of British American Tobacco in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on British American Tobacco from GBX 3,600 to GBX 3,800 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Four 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 MarketBeat.com, British American Tobacco presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of GBX 4,875.

British American Tobacco Trading Down 2.3%

LON BATS opened at GBX 4,034.35 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 72.48. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is GBX 4,249.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is GBX 4,406.38. British American Tobacco has a twelve month low of GBX 3,677 and a twelve month high of GBX 5,368. The company has a market capitalization of £86.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.87, a PEG ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.11.

British American Tobacco (LON:BATS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported GBX 203.60 earnings per share for the quarter. British American Tobacco had a return on equity of 13.38% and a net margin of 24.99%. Research analysts forecast that British American Tobacco will post 361.5079365 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Tadeu Marroco bought 377 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of GBX 4,214 per share, with a total value of £15,886.78. Also, insider Matthew Wright purchased 5,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of GBX 4,500 per share, for a total transaction of £247,500. Insiders have purchased a total of 5,884 shares of company stock worth $26,368,612 over the last three months. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.

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