British American Tobacco (NYSE:BTI) Hits New 12-Month High - Here's Why

Shares of British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $43.04 and last traded at $42.98, with a volume of 1818081 shares. The stock had previously closed at $42.55.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on BTI. UBS Group raised 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 note on Monday, February 17th.

British American Tobacco Stock Down 0.9 %

The company has a market cap of $87.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.63 and a beta of 0.38. 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 company has a fifty day moving average of $40.66 and a 200 day moving average of $38.27.

British American Tobacco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a $0.7491 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. British American Tobacco's payout ratio is 60.57%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BTI. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in British American Tobacco by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 493,451 shares of the company's stock worth $17,922,000 after purchasing an additional 7,875 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 1,196,020 shares during the period. Cove Street Capital LLC purchased a new position in British American Tobacco during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,050,000. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in shares of British American Tobacco by 45.3% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 46,286 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,681,000 after purchasing an additional 14,432 shares during the period. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in British American Tobacco by 9.8% in 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 currently owned by institutional investors.

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.