British American Tobacco (LON:BATS) Hits New 1-Year High Following Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• British American Tobacco shares hit a new 52-week high of GBX 4,169 ($55.36) following an upgrade from JPMorgan Chase & Co., raising their price target from GBX 2,800 to GBX 3,300.
• Several brokerages, including Deutsche Bank and Citigroup, have issued positive ratings and increased price targets for the stock, reflecting growing confidence.
• Insider Tadeu Marroco purchased shares and there has been a total of 829 shares acquired by insiders over the last ninety days, indicating potential insider confidence in the company's future.

British American Tobacco p.l.c. (LON:BATS - Get Free Report) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday after Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on the stock from GBX 4,800 to GBX 5,200. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. British American Tobacco traded as high as GBX 4,169 ($56.07) and last traded at GBX 4,169 ($56.07), with a volume of 22506809 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at GBX 4,123.85 ($55.47).

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a GBX 3,000 ($40.35) target price on shares of British American Tobacco in a report on Friday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on British American Tobacco from GBX 2,800 ($37.66) to GBX 3,300 ($44.38) and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on British American Tobacco from GBX 4,200 ($56.49) to GBX 4,400 ($59.18) and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Citigroup restated a "buy" rating on shares of British American Tobacco in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of GBX 3,960 ($53.26).

Insider Activity at British American Tobacco

In other British American Tobacco news, insider Soraya Benchikh acquired 55 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of GBX 4,131 ($55.56) per share, with a total value of £2,272.05 ($3,055.88). Also, insider Tadeu Marroco acquired 396 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of GBX 4,131 ($55.56) per share, for a total transaction of £16,358.76 ($22,002.37). Insiders purchased a total of 682 shares of company stock worth $2,649,800 in the last 90 days. 10.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

British American Tobacco Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of £93.02 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.82, a PEG 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 price of GBX 3,711.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of GBX 3,353.27.

British American Tobacco (LON:BATS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported GBX 162.90 ($2.19) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. British American Tobacco had a negative return on equity of 25.94% and a negative net margin of 52.84%. As a group, analysts expect 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.