Imperial Brands (LON:IMB) Hits New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Imperial Brands PLC (LON:IMB)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as GBX 2,696 ($33.41) and last traded at GBX 2,696 ($33.41), with a volume of 2619432 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at GBX 2,662 ($32.99).

Imperial Brands Stock Performance

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of GBX 2,588.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of GBX 2,333.23. The company has a market cap of £22.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1,176.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 16.51 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 217.64.

Imperial Brands (LON:IMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 19th. The company reported GBX 297 ($3.68) EPS for the quarter. Imperial Brands had a net margin of 11.44% and a return on equity of 39.00%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Imperial Brands PLC will post 246.5723613 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Imperial Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a GBX 54.26 ($0.67) dividend. This is an increase from Imperial Brands’s previous dividend of $22.45. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a dividend yield of 2.43%. Imperial Brands’s payout ratio is presently 6,652.17%.

Insider Activity at Imperial Brands

In other Imperial Brands news, insider Lukas Paravicini sold 6,639 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 2,615 ($32.41), for a total value of £173,609.85 ($215,156.59). Also, insider Jon Stanton acquired 398,802 shares of Imperial Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of GBX 2,597 ($32.18) per share, with a total value of £10,356,887.94 ($12,835,404.56). 7.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Imperial Brands

We are Imperial Brands, a global consumer-focused organisation and the fourth largest international tobacco company.

We’re driven by our purpose: to forge a path to a healthier future for moments of relaxation and pleasure. The world’s one billion adult smokers are seeking new and potentially less harmful products and we are committed to meeting their diverse and evolving needs.