Barclays Upgrades British American Tobacco (NYSE:BTI) to “Strong-Buy”

British American Tobacco (NYSE:BTI) was upgraded by stock analysts at Barclays to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on BTI. Morgan Stanley cut British American Tobacco from an “overweight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $33.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. StockNews.com lowered British American Tobacco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, August 11th.

British American Tobacco Stock Performance

Shares of BTI opened at $34.50 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $76.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.14 and a beta of 0.52. British American Tobacco has a 12 month low of $28.25 and a 12 month high of $39.54. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $36.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $33.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On British American Tobacco

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. CWM LLC raised its stake in British American Tobacco by 8.5% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 15,889 shares of the company’s stock valued at $485,000 after buying an additional 1,244 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in British American Tobacco by 79.3% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,085 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 922 shares during the period. City State Bank lifted its holdings in British American Tobacco by 5,016.7% during the 1st quarter. City State Bank now owns 1,535 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,505 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of British American Tobacco in the first quarter valued at $210,000. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc increased its holdings in shares of British American Tobacco by 3.6% in the first quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 57,109 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,742,000 after purchasing an additional 2,011 shares during the last quarter. 21.44% of the stock is 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.