British American Tobacco (LON:BATS) Stock Price Passes Above 200 Day Moving Average - Should You Sell?

Key Points

• British American Tobacco's stock price recently crossed above its 200-day moving average, indicating potential bullish momentum, with shares trading at GBX 4,151.56 ($56.16).
• Equities analysts have mixed ratings on the stock, with three buy ratings, one hold, and one sell, while the average target price is GBX 4,040.
• Insider transactions indicate confidence, as executives purchased a total of 639 shares of the company recently, worth approximately $2.6 million.

British American Tobacco p.l.c. (LON:BATS - Get Free Report)'s stock price passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of GBX 3,517.51 ($47.85) and traded as high as GBX 4,166 ($56.67). British American Tobacco shares last traded at GBX 4,151.56 ($56.48), with a volume of 1,603,022 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on BATS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on British American Tobacco from GBX 2,800 to GBX 3,300 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on British American Tobacco from GBX 4,800 to GBX 5,200 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating on shares of British American Tobacco in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on British American Tobacco from GBX 4,200 to GBX 4,400 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lowered British American Tobacco to an "underperform" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from GBX 3,000 to GBX 3,400 in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of GBX 4,040.

British American Tobacco Trading Down 0.7%

The business has a 50-day moving average price of GBX 4,069.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of GBX 3,551.73. The stock has a market capitalization of £90.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 2,966.87, a P/E/G ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 74.63.

British American Tobacco (LON:BATS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported GBX 162.90 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%. On average, analysts expect that British American Tobacco p.l.c. will post 361.5079365 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at British American Tobacco

In other British American Tobacco news, insider Soraya Benchikh acquired 55 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of GBX 4,131 per share, for a total transaction of £2,272.05. Also, insider Tadeu Marroco bought 170 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of GBX 4,182 per share, with a total value of £7,109.40. Over the last 90 days, insiders have purchased 639 shares of company stock valued at $2,643,162. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.