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

British American Tobacco p.l.c. (LON:BATS)’s stock price fell 8.8% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as GBX 3,058 ($38.43) and last traded at GBX 3,095 ($38.90). 7,627,224 shares changed hands 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 ($42.65).

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a GBX 2,800 ($35.19) price target on shares of British American Tobacco in a research note on Thursday, December 12th.

British American Tobacco Trading Down 0.1 %

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of GBX 3,020.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of GBX 2,866.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 74.63. The stock has a market cap of £68.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.99, a P/E/G ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.27.

British American Tobacco (LON:BATS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported GBX 364.30 ($4.58) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. British American Tobacco had a negative return on equity of 25.94% and a negative net margin of 52.84%. On average, research analysts forecast 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 firm also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 19th were issued a GBX 58.88 ($0.74) dividend. 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 dividend yield of 2.54%. British American Tobacco’s dividend payout ratio is currently -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.