British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Key Points

• British American Tobacco experienced a substantial 36.4% drop in short interest in September, with total short interest falling to 4.64 million shares.
• Several hedge funds increased their stakes in British American Tobacco, with Code Waechter LLC leading by boosting its position by 251.2% in the third quarter.
• Analysts have mixed views on the stock, with ratings ranging from Buy to Underperform, and a current consensus rating of "Hold" with an average price target of $51.00.

British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI - Get Free Report) saw a large drop in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totaling 4,640,000 shares, a drop of 36.4% from the September 15th total of 7,300,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 4,890,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.9 days. Approximately 0.2% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Approximately 0.2% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 4,890,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.9 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On British American Tobacco

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Code Waechter LLC lifted its position in British American Tobacco by 251.2% in the 3rd quarter. Code Waechter LLC now owns 18,820 shares of the company's stock valued at $962,000 after acquiring an additional 13,461 shares in the last quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC lifted its position in British American Tobacco by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 73,473 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,900,000 after acquiring an additional 773 shares in the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust lifted its position in British American Tobacco by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 23,507 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,248,000 after acquiring an additional 493 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its position in British American Tobacco by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 45,395 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,410,000 after acquiring an additional 2,241 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its position in British American Tobacco by 12.6% in the 3rd quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 77,125 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,094,000 after acquiring an additional 8,653 shares in the last quarter. 16.16% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

British American Tobacco Stock Up 1.4%

BTI stock traded up $0.72 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $51.11. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,926,308 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,116,895. The company has a market cap of $105.04 billion, a PE ratio of 10.50, a P/E/G ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.42. British American Tobacco has a 12 month low of $34.24 and a 12 month high of $59.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The firm's 50-day moving average is $54.45 and its 200-day moving average is $49.66.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on BTI. Wall Street Zen lowered British American Tobacco from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Morgan Stanley restated an "underweight" rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of British American Tobacco in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on British American Tobacco in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered British American Tobacco from a "sector perform" rating to an "underperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of British American Tobacco in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $51.00.

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.

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