Short Interest in British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI) Declines By 16.0%

British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI - Get Free Report) saw a significant decline in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 10,470,000 shares, a decline of 16.0% from the March 31st total of 12,460,000 shares. Currently, 0.5% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 5,250,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.0 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of British American Tobacco by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 493,451 shares of the company's stock worth $17,922,000 after buying an additional 7,875 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in shares of British American Tobacco by 24.4% in 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 bought a new stake in shares of British American Tobacco during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,050,000. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in British American Tobacco by 45.3% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 46,286 shares of the company's stock worth $1,681,000 after purchasing an additional 14,432 shares in the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in British American Tobacco by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 196,073 shares of the company's stock valued at $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 and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BTI has been the subject of several research reports. Bank of America began coverage on British American Tobacco in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. They set a "buy" rating for the company. UBS Group upgraded shares of British American Tobacco from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of British American Tobacco from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $33.00.

British American Tobacco Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BTI traded up $0.57 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $43.74. The company had a trading volume of 2,908,963 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,697,883. British American Tobacco has a one year low of $29.83 and a one year high of $43.86. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $41.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.76. The firm has a market cap of $90.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.98 and a beta of 0.32.

British American Tobacco Announces Dividend

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

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.