British American Tobacco (NYSE:BTI) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Buy Rating

StockNews.com upgraded shares of British American Tobacco (NYSE:BTI) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning.

Separately, UBS Group upgraded shares of British American Tobacco from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th.

British American Tobacco Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BTI opened at $38.80 on Monday. British American Tobacco has a 12-month low of $28.25 and a 12-month high of $42.74. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $37.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $36.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.88.

British American Tobacco Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 30th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.62%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On British American Tobacco

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital International Investors grew its stake in British American Tobacco by 17.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 38,873,006 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,411,179,000 after acquiring an additional 5,673,619 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in British American Tobacco by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 15,594,361 shares of the company’s stock worth $566,381,000 after acquiring an additional 47,439 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in British American Tobacco by 44.0% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in British American Tobacco by 24.4% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 137,231 shares in the last quarter. 16.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.