British American Tobacco (NYSE:BTI) Shares Gap Up – What’s Next?

Shares of British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI) gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $40.25, but opened at $41.50. British American Tobacco shares last traded at $41.42, with a volume of 1,399,744 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

British American Tobacco Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market cap of $82.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.21 and a beta of 0.38. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $37.72.

British American Tobacco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 payout ratio is 60.57%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On British American Tobacco

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its position in British American Tobacco by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 493,451 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,922,000 after acquiring an additional 7,875 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in shares of British American Tobacco by 24.4% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 6,094,244 shares of the company’s stock valued at $221,343,000 after purchasing an additional 1,196,020 shares in the last quarter. Cove Street Capital LLC acquired a new stake in British American Tobacco during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,050,000. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in British American Tobacco by 45.3% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 46,286 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,681,000 after buying an additional 14,432 shares during the period. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of British American Tobacco by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 196,073 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,121,000 after buying an additional 17,478 shares in the last quarter. 16.16% 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.