GF Fund Management CO. LTD. Purchases Shares of 11,301 British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI)

GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new position in shares of British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 11,301 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $468,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of British American Tobacco by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 5,458 shares of the company's stock valued at $198,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of British American Tobacco by 294.9% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 703 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 525 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of British American Tobacco by 40.4% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 7,755 shares of the company's stock valued at $282,000 after acquiring an additional 2,231 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of British American Tobacco by 20.8% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 159,363 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,788,000 after purchasing an additional 27,492 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Keybank National Association OH increased its stake in British American Tobacco by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 6,432 shares of the company's stock worth $234,000 after acquiring an additional 389 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 16.16% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America assumed coverage on British American Tobacco in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. Wall Street Zen lowered British American Tobacco from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of British American Tobacco in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on British American Tobacco in a report on Wednesday. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, British American Tobacco has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $33.00.

British American Tobacco Trading Up 2.3%

Shares of NYSE BTI traded up $1.12 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $49.05. 7,053,588 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,233,755. The company has a market capitalization of $101.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.07, a P/E/G ratio of 4.52 and a beta of 0.33. British American Tobacco p.l.c. has a 12 month low of $31.50 and a 12 month high of $49.77. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $45.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.52.

British American Tobacco Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a $0.7391 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 5.99%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 27th. British American Tobacco's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.78%.

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.