British American Tobacco (NYSE:BTI) Stock Price Down 3% – Should You Sell?

British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI)’s stock price was down 3% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $39.83 and last traded at $39.87. Approximately 1,759,593 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 61% from the average daily volume of 4,566,842 shares. The stock had previously closed at $41.10.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group raised British American Tobacco from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com raised British American Tobacco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 17th.

British American Tobacco Stock Down 2.7 %

The company has a market cap of $82.81 billion, a PE ratio of 8.21 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The company’s fifty day moving average is $40.05 and its 200-day moving average is $37.67.

British American Tobacco Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital International Investors increased its position in shares of British American Tobacco by 17.1% during the 4th 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 British American Tobacco by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 15,594,361 shares of the company’s stock valued at $566,381,000 after buying an additional 47,439 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in British American Tobacco by 44.0% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,232,402 shares of the company’s stock worth $371,641,000 after acquiring an additional 3,127,046 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in shares of British American Tobacco by 24.4% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 6,094,244 shares of the company’s stock worth $221,343,000 after acquiring an additional 1,196,020 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of British American Tobacco by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 3,010,687 shares of the company’s stock worth $109,348,000 after purchasing an additional 137,231 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 16.16% of the company’s stock.

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.