British American Tobacco (LON:BATS) Sets New 12-Month High on 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)'s share price hit a new 52-week high 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 ($55.43) and last traded at GBX 4,169 ($55.43), with a volume of 22506809 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at GBX 4,123.85 ($54.83).

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of British American Tobacco in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of British American Tobacco from GBX 4,200 ($55.84) to GBX 4,400 ($58.50) and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a GBX 3,000 ($39.89) price objective on shares of British American Tobacco in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of British American Tobacco from GBX 2,800 ($37.23) to GBX 3,300 ($43.88) and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, British American Tobacco currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of GBX 3,960 ($52.65).

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Soraya Benchikh acquired 55 shares of British American Tobacco stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The stock was purchased at an average price of GBX 4,131 ($54.93) per share, for a total transaction of £2,272.05 ($3,020.94). Also, insider Tadeu Marroco acquired 396 shares of British American Tobacco stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The shares were purchased at an average price of GBX 4,131 ($54.93) per share, with a total value of £16,358.76 ($21,750.78). In the last 90 days, insiders bought 1,276 shares of company stock valued at $4,601,247. Company insiders own 10.55% of the company's stock.

British American Tobacco Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 74.63, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The company has a market capitalization of £92.80 billion, a PE ratio of -6.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.27. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is GBX 3,658.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is GBX 3,329.97.

British American Tobacco (LON:BATS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported GBX 162.90 ($2.17) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. British American Tobacco had a negative net margin of 52.84% and a negative return on equity of 25.94%. On average, research analysts predict 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.