British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI) Stock Holdings Lessened by Benjamin Edwards Inc.

Benjamin Edwards Inc. reduced its stake in British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI - Free Report) by 51.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,500 shares of the company's stock after selling 15,220 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc.'s holdings in British American Tobacco were worth $527,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BTI. Capital International Investors boosted 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 buying an additional 5,673,619 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in shares of British American Tobacco by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 15,594,361 shares of the company's stock worth $566,381,000 after buying an additional 47,439 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of British American Tobacco by 44.0% during 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 during the period. 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 buying an additional 1,196,020 shares during the period. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of British American Tobacco by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 3,010,687 shares of the company's stock worth $109,348,000 after buying an additional 137,231 shares during the period. 16.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on BTI shares. 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 British American Tobacco from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, February 17th. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on British American Tobacco in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. One investment 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 stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $33.00.

British American Tobacco Price Performance

British American Tobacco stock traded up $0.66 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $41.21. The company's stock had a trading volume of 11,451,296 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,450,663. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.46 and a beta of 0.32. British American Tobacco p.l.c. has a twelve month low of $30.01 and a twelve month high of $44.78. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $41.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

British American Tobacco Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 30th will be issued a $0.7391 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 30th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.17%. British American Tobacco's dividend payout ratio is currently 60.57%.

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.