Fifth Third Bancorp Raises Stock Position in British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI)

Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in shares of British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI) by 29.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,253 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,241 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in British American Tobacco were worth $590,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of British American Tobacco by 17.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 38,873,006 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,411,179,000 after purchasing an additional 5,673,619 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in British American Tobacco by 44.0% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,232,402 shares of the company’s stock valued at $371,641,000 after purchasing an additional 3,127,046 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its stake in shares of British American Tobacco by 2,565.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 2,079,322 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,521,000 after buying an additional 2,001,311 shares during the period. Bridgewater Associates LP increased its holdings in shares of British American Tobacco by 261.7% during the 4th quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 2,681,379 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,388,000 after buying an additional 1,940,035 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of British American Tobacco during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $55,620,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 16.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on BTI shares. Bank of America began coverage on British American Tobacco in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating on shares of British American Tobacco in a report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, British American Tobacco has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $33.00.

British American Tobacco Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of British American Tobacco stock opened at $48.77 on Wednesday. British American Tobacco p.l.c. has a 52-week low of $30.75 and a 52-week high of $49.58. The company has a 50 day moving average of $44.10 and a 200 day moving average of $40.62. The company has a market capitalization of $100.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.01, a P/E/G ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

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.