British American Tobacco (LON:BATS) Hits New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

British American Tobacco p.l.c. (LON:BATS) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as GBX 3,013 ($37.61) and last traded at GBX 3,009 ($37.56), with a volume of 16420826 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at GBX 2,997 ($37.41).

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and issued a GBX 2,800 ($34.95) price objective on shares of British American Tobacco in a report on Thursday, December 12th.

British American Tobacco Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of £66.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -483.60, a PEG ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.27. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of GBX 2,937.60 and a 200-day moving average price of GBX 2,793.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 74.14, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.47.

British American Tobacco Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 19th will be issued a dividend of GBX 58.88 ($0.73) per share. This is an increase from British American Tobacco’s previous dividend of $57.72. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 19th. This represents a yield of 2.54%. British American Tobacco’s dividend payout ratio is -3,794.21%.

Insider Activity

In other British American Tobacco news, insider Tadeu Marroco bought 48 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were purchased at an average price of GBX 2,716 ($33.90) per share, with a total value of £1,303.68 ($1,627.36). In the last quarter, insiders purchased 63 shares of company stock worth $173,913. 10.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.