British American Tobacco (BATS) Competitors

Imperial Brands (LON:IMB) and British American Tobacco (LON:BATS) are both large-cap consumer defensive companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, dividends, media sentiment, risk, valuation, institutional ownership and analyst recommendations.

Is IMB or BATS a better dividend stock?

Imperial Brands pays an annual dividend of GBX 153 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.4%. British American Tobacco pays an annual dividend of GBX 236 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.9%. Imperial Brands pays out 64.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. British American Tobacco pays out -38.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. British American Tobacco is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Do analysts recommend IMB or BATS?

British American Tobacco has a consensus price target of GBX 2,800, suggesting a potential downside of 18.08%. Given British American Tobacco's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe British American Tobacco is more favorable than Imperial Brands.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Imperial Brands	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	0.00
British American Tobacco	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00

Which has higher earnings and valuation, IMB or BATS?

Imperial Brands has higher earnings, but lower revenue than British American Tobacco. British American Tobacco is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Imperial Brands, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Imperial Brands	£17.31B	1.38	£1.98B	£236.12	12.10
British American Tobacco	£25.81B	2.91	-£13.64B	-£619.76	-5.52

Does the media prefer IMB or BATS?

In the previous week, Imperial Brands had 1 more articles in the media than British American Tobacco. MarketBeat recorded 5 mentions for Imperial Brands and 4 mentions for British American Tobacco. Imperial Brands' average media sentiment score of 0.64 beat British American Tobacco's score of 0.25 indicating that Imperial Brands is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Imperial Brands	3 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
British American Tobacco	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of IMB or BATS?

68.0% of Imperial Brands shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 40.7% of British American Tobacco shares are held by institutional investors. 7.3% of Imperial Brands shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 10.6% of British American Tobacco shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has more volatility and risk, IMB or BATS?

Imperial Brands has a beta of 0.42, meaning that its stock price is 58% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, British American Tobacco has a beta of 0.27, meaning that its stock price is 73% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is IMB or BATS more profitable?

Imperial Brands has a net margin of 11.44% compared to British American Tobacco's net margin of -52.84%. Imperial Brands' return on equity of 41.84% beat British American Tobacco's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Imperial Brands	11.44%	41.84%	6.92%
British American Tobacco	-52.84%	-25.94%	5.16%

Summary

Imperial Brands beats British American Tobacco on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.