British American Tobacco (LON:BATS) Reaches New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

British American Tobacco p.l.c. (LON:BATS) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as GBX 4,876.92 and last traded at GBX 4,221, with a volume of 267698031 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 4,285.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on BATS shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on British American Tobacco from GBX 4,400 to GBX 4,900 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 28th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of British American Tobacco from GBX 4,450 to GBX 4,850 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of British American Tobacco from GBX 3,300 to GBX 4,150 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 26th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lowered shares of British American Tobacco to an “underperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from GBX 3,000 to GBX 3,400 in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of GBX 4,500.

British American Tobacco Price Performance

The company’s fifty day moving average is GBX 4,119.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is GBX 3,970.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 74.63, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market cap of £91.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.27.

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.