Townsend & Associates Inc Sells 571 Shares of British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI)

Townsend & Associates Inc lessened its stake in shares of British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 63,967 shares of the company’s stock after selling 571 shares during the period. Townsend & Associates Inc’s holdings in British American Tobacco were worth $2,350,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc bought a new position in shares of British American Tobacco during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. ORG Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of British American Tobacco by 35.1% in the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 1,151 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 299 shares during the last quarter. Kieckhefer Group LLC bought a new position in shares of British American Tobacco in the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV lifted its holdings in shares of British American Tobacco by 153.7% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 1,243 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 753 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of British American Tobacco by 122.8% in the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 1,357 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 748 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 16.16% of the company’s stock.

British American Tobacco Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE BTI opened at $37.80 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.58. The company has a market cap of $78.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.76 and a beta of 0.53. British American Tobacco p.l.c. has a 1 year low of $28.25 and a 1 year high of $42.74. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $37.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.05.

British American Tobacco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 30th will be paid a $0.7391 dividend. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.82%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 30th. British American Tobacco’s payout ratio is currently 59.14%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on BTI shares. StockNews.com raised shares of British American Tobacco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 17th. UBS Group raised shares of British American Tobacco from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th.

British American Tobacco Company Profile

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.