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 stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, valuation, risk, dividends, institutional ownership, media sentiment, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Do analysts rate IMB or BATS?

British American Tobacco has a consensus target price of GBX 3,350, suggesting a potential downside of 10.94%. Given British American Tobacco's stronger consensus rating and higher possible 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)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	0.00
British American Tobacco	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50

Which has preferable valuation and earnings, 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	1.41	£1.98B	£236.12	12.35
British American Tobacco	£25.81B	3.21	-£13.64B	-£619.76	-6.07

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 hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Does the media refer more to IMB or BATS?

In the previous week, British American Tobacco had 5 more articles in the media than Imperial Brands. MarketBeat recorded 12 mentions for British American Tobacco and 7 mentions for Imperial Brands. Imperial Brands' average media sentiment score of 0.61 beat British American Tobacco's score of 0.45 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	1 Very Positive mention(s)	4 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
British American Tobacco	3 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

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 153 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.2%. British American Tobacco pays an annual dividend of GBX 236 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.3%. 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.

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 and British American Tobacco tied by winning 9 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.