British American Tobacco (LON:BATS) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results

British American Tobacco (LON:BATS) issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The company reported GBX 176.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, Digital Look Earnings reports. British American Tobacco had a negative return on equity of 25.94% and a negative net margin of 52.84%.

British American Tobacco Price Performance

LON BATS traded down GBX 45.62 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting GBX 4,380.38. The stock had a trading volume of 1,888,662,625 shares, compared to its average volume of 66,505,539. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of GBX 4,285.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of GBX 4,153.05. The company has a market cap of £95.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.45, a P/E/G ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.27. British American Tobacco has a 52-week low of GBX 2,916 and a 52-week high of GBX 4,806. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 74.63.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on British American Tobacco from GBX 3,300 to GBX 4,150 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of British American Tobacco from GBX 4,400 to GBX 4,900 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 28th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a GBX 5,200 price target on shares of British American Tobacco in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of British American Tobacco from GBX 4,450 to GBX 4,850 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of GBX 4,500.

British American Tobacco Company Profile

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.