British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in 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 volume of 4,380,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.3 days. Currently, 0.5% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Institutional Trading of British American Tobacco

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BTI. Capital International Investors lifted 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 worth $1,411,179,000 after acquiring an additional 5,673,619 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted 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 valued at $566,381,000 after purchasing an additional 47,439 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted 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 valued at $371,641,000 after buying an additional 3,127,046 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in shares of British American Tobacco by 24.4% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 6,094,244 shares of the company’s stock worth $221,343,000 after buying an additional 1,196,020 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC lifted 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 valued at $109,348,000 after acquiring an additional 137,231 shares during the last quarter. 16.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BTI has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group upgraded British American Tobacco from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com upgraded British American Tobacco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 17th.

British American Tobacco Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BTI traded down $0.95 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $40.15. 2,468,037 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,593,365. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.67. The company has a market cap of $83.17 billion, a PE ratio of 8.24 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.76. British American Tobacco has a 1-year low of $28.25 and a 1-year high of $42.74.

British American Tobacco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Stockholders 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 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.