Royal Bank Of Canada Reiterates "Sector perform" Rating for British American Tobacco (LON:BATS)

Key Points

• Royal Bank of Canada has reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating for British American Tobacco, setting a price target of GBX 3,000, indicating a potential downside of 27.26% from its previous close.
• Analysts from JPMorgan Chase and Deutsche Bank have also raised their target prices for the stock, with Deutsche Bank now rating it as a "buy" at GBX 4,400.
• The company's stock has shown a wide fluctuation over the past year, with a low of GBX 2,556.23 and a high of GBX 4,149, and it currently has an insider ownership of 10.55%.

British American Tobacco (LON:BATS - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "sector perform" rating reiterated by investment analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada in a research note issued to investors on Friday, August 1st, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have a GBX 3,000 ($40.33) target price on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada's target price would suggest a potential downside of 29.04% from the company's current price.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on BATS. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of British American Tobacco in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on British American Tobacco from GBX 4,200 ($56.47) to GBX 4,400 ($59.16) and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on British American Tobacco from GBX 2,800 ($37.64) to GBX 3,300 ($44.37) and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of GBX 3,960 ($53.24).

British American Tobacco Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of BATS opened at GBX 4,228 ($56.84) on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of £93.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.27. British American Tobacco has a 1 year low of GBX 2,556.23 ($34.37) and a 1 year high of GBX 4,244 ($57.06). The business's 50 day simple moving average is GBX 3,711.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is GBX 3,358.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 74.63, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.47.

British American Tobacco (LON:BATS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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, equities analysts expect that British American Tobacco will post 361.5079365 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at British American Tobacco

In related news, insider Soraya Benchikh bought 55 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The shares were purchased at an average price of GBX 4,131 ($55.54) per share, with a total value of £2,272.05 ($3,054.65). Also, insider Tadeu Marroco bought 396 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The shares were bought at an average cost of GBX 4,131 ($55.54) per share, for a total transaction of £16,358.76 ($21,993.49). In the last three months, insiders have bought 476 shares of company stock worth $1,953,726. Corporate insiders own 10.55% of the company's stock.

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.