Short Interest in British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI) Grows By 33.9%

British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,190,000 shares, a growth of 33.9% from the January 31st total of 5,370,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 4,220,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.7 days. Currently, 0.3% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group upgraded shares of British American Tobacco from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of British American Tobacco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 17th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On British American Tobacco

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in shares of British American Tobacco by 17.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 38,873,006 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,411,179,000 after purchasing an additional 5,673,619 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of British American Tobacco by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 15,594,361 shares of the company’s stock valued at $566,381,000 after purchasing an additional 47,439 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of British American Tobacco by 44.0% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,232,402 shares of the company’s stock valued at $371,641,000 after purchasing an additional 3,127,046 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in shares of British American Tobacco by 24.4% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 6,094,244 shares of the company’s stock valued at $221,343,000 after purchasing an additional 1,196,020 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of British American Tobacco by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 3,010,687 shares of the company’s stock valued at $109,348,000 after purchasing an additional 137,231 shares during the last quarter. 16.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

British American Tobacco Price Performance

Shares of BTI opened at $39.69 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $82.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.15 and a beta of 0.50. British American Tobacco has a 1-year low of $28.25 and a 1-year high of $42.74. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $38.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

British American Tobacco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.7491 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. British American Tobacco’s payout ratio is 60.57%.

About British American Tobacco

British American Tobacco p.l.c. engages in the provision of tobacco and nicotine products to consumers worldwide. It also offers vapour, heated, and modern oral nicotine products; combustible cigarettes; and traditional oral products, such as snus and moist snuff. The company offers its products under the Vuse, glo, Velo, Grizzly, Kodiak, Dunhill, Kent, Lucky Strike, Pall Mall, Rothmans, Camel, Natural American Spirit, Newport, Vogue, Viceroy, Kool, Peter Stuyvesant, Craven A, State Express 555 and Shuang Xi brands.