Short Interest in British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI) Grows By 33.9%

British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,190,000 shares, an increase of 33.9% from the January 31st total of 5,370,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 4,220,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.7 days. Currently, 0.3% of the company’s shares are short sold.

British American Tobacco Stock Up 0.2 %

British American Tobacco stock opened at $39.69 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $38.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.22. British American Tobacco has a fifty-two week low of $28.25 and a fifty-two week high of $42.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $82.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.15 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.58.

British American Tobacco Announces Dividend

The business 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 of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. British American Tobacco’s payout ratio is currently 60.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC lifted its stake in British American Tobacco by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 8,904 shares of the company’s stock valued at $323,000 after buying an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. Keystone Financial Group lifted its stake in British American Tobacco by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Keystone Financial Group now owns 17,695 shares of the company’s stock valued at $643,000 after buying an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Stokes Family Office LLC lifted its stake in British American Tobacco by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Stokes Family Office LLC now owns 14,697 shares of the company’s stock valued at $534,000 after buying an additional 269 shares in the last quarter. Key Client Fiduciary Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of British American Tobacco by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Key Client Fiduciary Advisors LLC now owns 15,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $547,000 after purchasing an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ORG Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of British American Tobacco by 35.1% in the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 1,151 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 16.16% of the company’s stock.

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.