British American Tobacco p.l.c. (LON:BATS) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of British American Tobacco p.l.c. (LON:BATS) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has issued a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is GBX 4,858.33.

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of British American Tobacco from GBX 3,600 to GBX 3,800 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a GBX 5,750 price target on shares of British American Tobacco in a report on Friday, May 29th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on British American Tobacco from GBX 5,200 to GBX 5,500 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a GBX 5,100 target price on shares of British American Tobacco in a research report on Friday, July 31st.

British American Tobacco Stock Up 0.7%

LON:BATS opened at GBX 4,231 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of £91.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.13. British American Tobacco has a twelve month low of GBX 3,677 and a twelve month high of GBX 5,368. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.31. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of GBX 4,525.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of GBX 4,476.60.

British American Tobacco (LON:BATS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported GBX 203.60 EPS for the quarter. British American Tobacco had a net margin of 24.99% and a return on equity of 13.38%. Analysts anticipate that British American Tobacco will post 361.5079365 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other British American Tobacco news, insider Matthew Wright bought 5,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of GBX 4,500 per share, for a total transaction of £247,500. Also, insider Tadeu Marroco bought 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The shares were acquired at an average price of GBX 4,306 per share, for a total transaction of £215,300. Over the last 90 days, insiders have bought 10,564 shares of company stock worth $46,561,206. Company insiders own 0.13% 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. Our corporate purpose is to build A Better Tomorrow™, reducing the health impact of our business, by offering adult consumers a greater choice of enjoyable and less risky*† products compared to cigarettes.