British American Tobacco (BATS) Competitors

British American Tobacco (LON:BATS) and Imperial Brands (LON:IMB) are both large-cap consumer defensive companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their media sentiment, community ranking, analyst recommendations, profitability, risk, valuation, earnings, institutional ownership and dividends.

Do institutionals and insiders believe in BATS or IMB?

40.7% of British American Tobacco shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 68.0% of Imperial Brands shares are held by institutional investors. 10.6% of British American Tobacco shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 7.3% of Imperial Brands shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Does the media refer more to BATS or IMB?

In the previous week, Imperial Brands had 1 more articles in the media than British American Tobacco. MarketBeat recorded 3 mentions for Imperial Brands and 2 mentions for British American Tobacco. British American Tobacco's average media sentiment score of 0.33 beat Imperial Brands' score of -0.37 indicating that British American Tobacco is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
British American Tobacco	0 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Imperial Brands	0 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Which has better earnings and valuation, BATS or IMB?

Imperial Brands has lower revenue, but higher earnings than British American Tobacco. British American Tobacco is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Imperial Brands, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
British American Tobacco	£26.18B	2.42	-£13.88B	-£6.22	-460.93
Imperial Brands	£18.18B	1.10	£2.08B	£2.30	1,030.87

Do analysts prefer BATS or IMB?

British American Tobacco presently has a consensus price target of GBX 3,237.50, indicating a potential upside of 12.92%. Imperial Brands has a consensus price target of GBX 2,220, indicating a potential downside of 6.37%. Given British American Tobacco's higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe British American Tobacco is more favorable than Imperial Brands.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
British American Tobacco	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50
Imperial Brands	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67

Which has more risk and volatility, BATS or IMB?

British American Tobacco has a beta of 0.27, meaning that its stock price is 73% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Imperial Brands has a beta of 0.42, meaning that its stock price is 58% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is BATS or IMB a better dividend stock?

British American Tobacco pays an annual dividend of GBX 236 per share and has a dividend yield of 8.2%. Imperial Brands pays an annual dividend of GBX 153 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.5%. British American Tobacco pays out -3,794.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Imperial Brands pays out 6,652.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. British American Tobacco is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in BATS or IMB?

British American Tobacco received 597 more outperform votes than Imperial Brands when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 74.05% of users gave British American Tobacco an outperform vote while only 69.56% of users gave Imperial Brands an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
British American Tobacco	Outperform Votes 1230 74.05%	Underperform Votes 431 25.95%
Imperial Brands	Outperform Votes 633 69.56%	Underperform Votes 277 30.44%

Is BATS or IMB more profitable?

Imperial Brands has a net margin of 11.44% compared to British American Tobacco's net margin of -52.84%. Imperial Brands' return on equity of 39.00% beat British American Tobacco's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
British American Tobacco	-52.84%	-21.50%	5.16%
Imperial Brands	11.44%	39.00%	6.92%

Summary

Imperial Brands beats British American Tobacco on 10 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.