British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and eight have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $51.00.

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on BTI. Weiss Ratings upgraded British American Tobacco from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Wall Street Zen lowered British American Tobacco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, April 5th. Finally, Kepler Capital Markets began coverage on British American Tobacco in a research note on Friday, December 12th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BTI. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in British American Tobacco by 12,870.7% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 9,470,709 shares of the company’s stock valued at $502,687,000 after purchasing an additional 9,397,693 shares during the last quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd boosted its holdings in British American Tobacco by 20.7% in the second quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 14,503,968 shares of the company’s stock valued at $686,473,000 after purchasing an additional 2,482,737 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in 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 last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in British American Tobacco by 29.5% in the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 6,934,792 shares of the company’s stock valued at $368,099,000 after purchasing an additional 1,578,860 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. purchased a new position in British American Tobacco in the second quarter valued at about $63,725,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 16.16% of the company’s stock.

British American Tobacco Trading Down 1.8%

BTI stock opened at $58.84 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. British American Tobacco has a 1 year low of $39.55 and a 1 year high of $63.22. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $56.75.

British American Tobacco Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 8th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 29th will be paid a $0.8349 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 29th. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.7%.

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.