Short Interest in British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI) Drops By 11.2%

British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 7,150,000 shares, a decrease of 11.2% from the August 15th total of 8,050,000 shares. Currently, 0.3% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 5,190,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.4 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com cut British American Tobacco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, August 11th.

British American Tobacco Price Performance

British American Tobacco stock traded up $0.02 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $38.03. The company had a trading volume of 853,224 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,830,545. British American Tobacco has a 52 week low of $28.25 and a 52 week high of $39.54. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $35.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.58.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On British American Tobacco

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in British American Tobacco by 83.8% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,206 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 550 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in British American Tobacco by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 887,911 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,007,000 after buying an additional 37,359 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in British American Tobacco by 62.4% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 107,884 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,160,000 after buying an additional 41,464 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new stake in British American Tobacco in the 4th quarter worth $300,000. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its stake in British American Tobacco by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 38,497 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,128,000 after buying an additional 640 shares in the last quarter. 21.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.