British American Tobacco (NYSE:BTI) Earns Buy Rating from Analysts at Bank of America

Research analysts at Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of British American Tobacco (NYSE:BTI - Get Free Report) in a report released on Wednesday, Marketbeat reports. The firm set a "buy" rating on the stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. UBS Group raised shares of British American Tobacco from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com upgraded British American Tobacco from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $33.00.

British American Tobacco Stock Performance

NYSE:BTI traded down $0.13 on Wednesday, hitting $43.17. The stock had a trading volume of 6,531,492 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,695,948. British American Tobacco has a 52-week low of $29.69 and a 52-week high of $43.86. The stock has a market cap of $89.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.86 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $41.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $38.52.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On British American Tobacco

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Capital International Investors grew its position in shares of British American Tobacco by 17.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 38,873,006 shares of the company's stock worth $1,411,179,000 after purchasing an additional 5,673,619 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in British American Tobacco by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 15,594,361 shares of the company's stock valued at $566,381,000 after buying an additional 47,439 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of British American Tobacco by 44.0% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,232,402 shares of the company's stock worth $371,641,000 after buying an additional 3,127,046 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in shares of British American Tobacco by 24.4% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 6,094,244 shares of the company's stock worth $221,343,000 after acquiring an additional 1,196,020 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in British American Tobacco by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 3,010,687 shares of the company's stock valued at $109,348,000 after acquiring an additional 137,231 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 16.16% of the company's stock.

About British American Tobacco

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.