Short Interest in British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI) Grows By 33.2%

British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 10,100,000 shares, an increase of 33.2% from the February 28th total of 7,580,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 4,380,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.3 days. Approximately 0.5% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Institutional Trading of British American Tobacco

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in British American Tobacco by 46.4% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 24,262 shares of the company’s stock worth $887,000 after purchasing an additional 7,686 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of British American Tobacco by 25.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 131,871 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,824,000 after buying an additional 26,863 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. increased its position in British American Tobacco by 35.0% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 166,353 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,085,000 after buying an additional 43,098 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in British American Tobacco by 89.6% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 66,130 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,419,000 after buying an additional 31,250 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its holdings in British American Tobacco by 67.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,105,356 shares of the company’s stock worth $259,914,000 after acquiring an additional 2,868,675 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 16.16% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

British American Tobacco Trading Down 2.3 %

NYSE:BTI traded down $0.95 on Wednesday, reaching $40.15. 2,468,037 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,593,365. The company’s 50 day moving average is $40.05 and its 200-day moving average is $37.67. British American Tobacco has a 1-year low of $28.25 and a 1-year high of $42.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $83.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.24 and a beta of 0.50.

British American Tobacco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a $0.7491 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. British American Tobacco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.