Imperial Brands (IMB) Competitors

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

Do analysts prefer IMB or BATS?

British American Tobacco has a consensus price target of GBX 4,040, indicating a potential upside of 4.79%. Given British American Tobacco's higher probable upside, analysts clearly 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)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
British American Tobacco	1 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.40

Which has more risk and volatility, IMB or BATS?

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

Is IMB or BATS a better dividend stock?

Imperial Brands pays an annual dividend of GBX 1.53 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.1%. British American Tobacco pays an annual dividend of GBX 2.38 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.1%. Imperial Brands pays out 51.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. British American Tobacco pays out 170.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

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%

Does the media refer more to IMB or BATS?

In the previous week, Imperial Brands had 4 more articles in the media than British American Tobacco. MarketBeat recorded 10 mentions for Imperial Brands and 6 mentions for British American Tobacco. British American Tobacco's average media sentiment score of 1.16 beat Imperial Brands' score of 0.42 indicating that British American Tobacco is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Imperial Brands	4 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
British American Tobacco	3 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do insiders & institutionals believe in IMB or BATS?

80.9% of Imperial Brands shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 75.6% of British American Tobacco shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.4% of Imperial Brands shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of British American Tobacco shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has higher earnings and valuation, IMB or BATS?

Imperial Brands has higher revenue and earnings than British American Tobacco. Imperial Brands is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than British American Tobacco, 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	£31.95B	0.77	£1.98B	£3.00	1,014.69
British American Tobacco	£25.60B	3.29	-£13.64B	£1.39	2,767.66

Summary

Imperial Brands beats British American Tobacco on 12 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.