British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI) Short Interest Up 21.0% in March

British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI) saw a large growth in short interest in March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 6,569,362 shares, a growth of 21.0% from the February 26th total of 5,430,502 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 5,869,099 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.1 days. Approximately 0.3% of the company’s shares are sold short.

British American Tobacco Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BTI opened at $57.68 on Wednesday. British American Tobacco has a fifty-two week low of $37.96 and a fifty-two week high of $63.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $56.61.

British American Tobacco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 8th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.8349 per share. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 29th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Capital World Investors raised its position in British American Tobacco by 12,870.7% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 9,470,709 shares of the company’s stock valued at $502,687,000 after acquiring an additional 9,397,693 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its position in shares of British American Tobacco by 2,066.9% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 3,476,001 shares of the company’s stock worth $164,519,000 after purchasing an additional 3,315,589 shares during the last quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd grew its holdings in shares of British American Tobacco by 20.7% during the second quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 14,503,968 shares of the company’s stock worth $686,473,000 after buying an additional 2,482,737 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of British American Tobacco by 3.0% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 64,057,419 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,399,352,000 after purchasing an additional 1,891,042 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in British American Tobacco by 29.5% during the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 6,934,792 shares of the company’s stock worth $368,099,000 after buying an additional 1,578,860 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 16.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Kepler Capital Markets started coverage on shares of British American Tobacco in a research report on Friday, December 12th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised British American Tobacco from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Wall Street Zen raised British American Tobacco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating on shares of British American Tobacco in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $51.00.

British American Tobacco Company Profile

British American Tobacco plc (BTI) is a multinational tobacco manufacturer and nicotine products company headquartered in London. Founded in 1902 as a joint venture to commercialize tobacco products outside the United States, the company has grown into one of the world’s largest tobacco firms with a long history in manufacturing and global distribution of combustible tobacco products.

BAT’s core business remains the manufacture and sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products under a portfolio of well-known consumer brands, including Dunhill, Lucky Strike, Pall Mall, Kent and Rothmans.