7,050 Shares in British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI) Purchased by Essex LLC

Essex LLC acquired a new position in shares of British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 7,050 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $292,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of British American Tobacco by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 493,451 shares of the company's stock valued at $17,922,000 after purchasing an additional 7,875 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in 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 worth $221,343,000 after buying an additional 1,196,020 shares in the last quarter. Cove Street Capital LLC bought a new position in British American Tobacco in the 4th quarter valued at $1,050,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in shares of British American Tobacco by 21.8% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 82,029 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,979,000 after buying an additional 14,655 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of British American Tobacco by 20.8% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 159,363 shares of the company's stock worth $5,788,000 after acquiring an additional 27,492 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 16.16% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

British American Tobacco Stock Down 2.3%

NYSE:BTI opened at $47.00 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. British American Tobacco p.l.c. has a 12-month low of $30.94 and a 12-month high of $49.58. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $45.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $97.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.65, a P/E/G ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.31.

British American Tobacco Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a $0.7391 dividend. This represents a yield of 5.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 27th. British American Tobacco's payout ratio is 60.78%.

British American Tobacco 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.

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