Jefferies Financial Group Issues Positive Forecast for British American Tobacco (LON:BATS) Stock Price

British American Tobacco (LON:BATS) had its price target increased by Jefferies Financial Group from GBX 4,800 ($63.82) to GBX 5,200 ($69.14) in a report published on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of British American Tobacco in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of British American Tobacco from GBX 2,800 ($37.23) to GBX 3,300 ($43.88) and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a GBX 3,000 ($39.89) price objective on shares of British American Tobacco in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of British American Tobacco from GBX 4,200 ($55.84) to GBX 4,400 ($58.50) and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of GBX 3,960 ($52.65).

British American Tobacco Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of BATS opened at GBX 4,202.09 ($55.87) on Tuesday. British American Tobacco has a twelve month low of GBX 2,556.23 ($33.99) and a twelve month high of GBX 4,228 ($56.22). The firm has a market capitalization of £92.45 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 74.63. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is GBX 3,658.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is GBX 3,329.97.

British American Tobacco (LON:BATS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported GBX 162.90 ($2.17) EPS for the quarter. British American Tobacco had a negative return on equity of 25.94% and a negative net margin of 52.84%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that British American Tobacco will post 361.5079365 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other British American Tobacco news, insider Tadeu Marroco purchased 396 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of GBX 4,131 ($54.93) per share, for a total transaction of £16,358.76 ($21,750.78). Also, insider Soraya Benchikh acquired 55 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of GBX 4,131 ($54.93) per share, with a total value of £2,272.05 ($3,020.94). Over the last 90 days, insiders have purchased 1,276 shares of company stock worth $4,601,247. 10.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.