British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI) Short Interest Up 33.2% in March

British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 10,100,000 shares, a growth of 33.2% from the February 28th total of 7,580,000 shares. Approximately 0.5% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 4,380,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.3 days.

British American Tobacco Price Performance

British American Tobacco stock traded down $0.26 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $41.12. 3,910,100 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,577,545. British American Tobacco has a 12 month low of $28.25 and a 12 month high of $42.74. The business’s 50-day moving average is $40.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.44 and a beta of 0.50.

British American Tobacco Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.7491 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. British American Tobacco’s dividend payout ratio is 60.57%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On British American Tobacco

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BTI. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in shares of British American Tobacco by 46.4% in 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 holdings in British American Tobacco by 25.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 131,871 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,824,000 after buying an additional 26,863 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. increased its stake in shares of British American Tobacco by 35.0% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 166,353 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,085,000 after acquiring an additional 43,098 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in British American Tobacco by 89.6% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 66,130 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,419,000 after acquiring 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 16.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BTI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group raised 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.

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.