British American Tobacco (LON:BATS) Share Price Breaks Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

British American Tobacco p.l.c. (LON:BATS)’s share price passed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Thursday. The stock has a two hundred day moving average of GBX 4,387.04 and traded as high as GBX 4,483.15. British American Tobacco shares last traded at GBX 4,477, with a volume of 1,788,986 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on BATS. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and set a GBX 5,100 target price on shares of British American Tobacco in a research note on Thursday, October 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on British American Tobacco from GBX 3,600 to GBX 3,800 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on British American Tobacco from GBX 5,500 to GBX 5,600 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 1st. Four equities research 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 MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of GBX 4,875.

British American Tobacco Stock Performance

The firm has a 50-day moving average price of GBX 4,182.63 and a 200 day moving average price of GBX 4,387.35. The firm has a market capitalization of £95.37 billion, a PE ratio of 15.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 72.48.

British American Tobacco (LON:BATS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported GBX 203.60 earnings per share for the quarter. British American Tobacco had a return on equity of 13.38% and a net margin of 24.99%. Research analysts expect that British American Tobacco p.l.c. will post 361.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at British American Tobacco

In other news, insider Tadeu Marroco bought 377 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The stock was bought at an average cost of GBX 4,214 per share, with a total value of £15,886.78. Also, insider Karen Guerra bought 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 14th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of GBX 4,254 per share, with a total value of £255,240. Insiders bought 11,892 shares of company stock worth $51,924,772 in the last three months. 0.12% of the stock is 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. 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.