British American Tobacco (LON:BATS) Trading Down 8.8% – Should You Sell?

British American Tobacco p.l.c. (LON:BATS)’s share price traded down 8.8% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as GBX 3,058 ($38.49) and last traded at GBX 3,095 ($38.96). 7,627,224 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 29,680,900 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 3,394 ($42.72).

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

British American Tobacco Price Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is GBX 3,026.27 and its 200 day moving average price is GBX 2,871.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 74.63. The firm has a market capitalization of £67.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.99, a PEG ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.27.

British American Tobacco (LON:BATS) last released its quarterly earnings data 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%. Equities research analysts expect that British American Tobacco p.l.c. will post 361.5079365 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

British American Tobacco Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, December 19th were given a dividend of GBX 58.88 ($0.74) per share. This is an increase from British American Tobacco’s previous dividend of $57.72. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 19th. This represents a yield of 2.54%. British American Tobacco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -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.