British American Tobacco (LON:BATS) Reaches New 12-Month High - Should You Buy?

British American Tobacco p.l.c. (LON:BATS - Get Free Report)'s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as GBX 3,399 ($42.78) and last traded at GBX 3,390 ($42.67), with a volume of 3588352 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at GBX 3,348 ($42.14).

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a GBX 2,800 ($35.24) price target on shares of British American Tobacco in a report on Thursday, December 12th.

British American Tobacco Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 74.63, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The business's fifty day moving average price is GBX 3,023.89 and its 200-day moving average price is GBX 2,869.91. The stock has a market capitalization of £67.98 billion, a PE ratio of -4.99, a P/E/G ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.27.

British American Tobacco (LON:BATS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported GBX 364.30 ($4.59) EPS for the quarter. British American Tobacco had a negative net margin of 52.84% and a negative return on equity of 25.94%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that British American Tobacco p.l.c. will post 361.5079365 EPS for the current year.

British American Tobacco Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, December 19th were issued a GBX 58.88 ($0.74) dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 19th. This represents a yield of 2.54%. This is a boost from British American Tobacco's previous dividend of $57.72. British American Tobacco's payout ratio is -38.08%.

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.