Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. Raises Position in British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI)

Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. increased its stake in shares of British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 58,737 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 850 shares during the quarter. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in British American Tobacco were worth $2,133,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of BTI. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its position in shares of British American Tobacco by 46.4% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 24,262 shares of the company’s stock worth $887,000 after purchasing an additional 7,686 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of British American Tobacco by 25.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 131,871 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,824,000 after acquiring an additional 26,863 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. raised its position in shares of British American Tobacco by 35.0% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 166,353 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,085,000 after acquiring an additional 43,098 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in British American Tobacco by 89.6% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 66,130 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,419,000 after purchasing an additional 31,250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC increased its stake in British American Tobacco by 67.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,105,356 shares of the company’s stock valued at $259,914,000 after purchasing an additional 2,868,675 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 16.16% of the company’s stock.

British American Tobacco Price Performance

BTI stock opened at $40.53 on Monday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.64. The company has a market capitalization of $83.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.32 and a beta of 0.50. British American Tobacco p.l.c. has a twelve month low of $28.25 and a twelve month high of $42.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

British American Tobacco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 is Friday, March 28th. British American Tobacco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 60.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on BTI. StockNews.com raised shares of British American Tobacco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 17th. UBS Group raised British American Tobacco from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th.

British American Tobacco 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.