British American Tobacco (LON:BATS) Shares Pass Above 200 Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Shares of British American Tobacco p.l.c. (LON:BATS) passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Friday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of GBX 4,201.01 and traded as high as GBX 4,387. British American Tobacco shares last traded at GBX 4,300, with a volume of 304,929,969 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on BATS. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of British American Tobacco from GBX 3,300 to GBX 4,150 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 26th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a GBX 5,200 price objective on shares of British American Tobacco in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on British American Tobacco from GBX 4,450 to GBX 4,850 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of GBX 4,500.

British American Tobacco Stock Down 1.3%

The firm has a market capitalization of £93.26 billion, a PE ratio of 12.32, a P/E/G ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 74.60, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The company has a 50-day moving average price of GBX 4,409.95 and a 200 day moving average price of GBX 4,201.01.

British American Tobacco (LON:BATS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported GBX 176.76 EPS for the quarter. British American Tobacco had a net margin of 30.23% and a return on equity of 16.33%. Analysts forecast that British American Tobacco p.l.c. will post 361.5079365 earnings per share for the current year.

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.