Although the impairment affected BTI's earnings, future revenue, profit growth, and stock price, it was a non-cash-adjusting impairment.
Today, the company remains a free cash flow powerhouse, with trailing-12-month free cash flow of $9.3 billion. This robust cash flow supports a substantial dividend yield of nearly 6%, with a very sustainable payout ratio of 60%.
Currently, the stock is trading at a forward P/E ratio of 11.6, which looks like a good price to pay for a strongly profitable company like British American Tobacco, even if its growth is roughly flat. Like most tobacco manufacturers, its operating margins are strong at 42%, thanks to its pricing power.