British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI) Shares Sold by Financial Counselors Inc.

Financial Counselors Inc. lowered its stake in shares of British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI - Free Report) by 4.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 174,298 shares of the company's stock after selling 8,173 shares during the period. Financial Counselors Inc.'s holdings in British American Tobacco were worth $7,211,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of British American Tobacco by 17.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 38,873,006 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,411,179,000 after buying an additional 5,673,619 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in shares of British American Tobacco by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 15,594,361 shares of the company's stock valued at $566,381,000 after purchasing an additional 47,439 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of British American Tobacco by 44.0% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,232,402 shares of the company's stock valued at $371,641,000 after purchasing an additional 3,127,046 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted 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 during the period. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of British American Tobacco by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 3,010,687 shares of the company's stock valued at $109,348,000 after purchasing an additional 137,231 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 16.16% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on BTI shares. Wall Street Zen cut shares of British American Tobacco from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, July 6th. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of British American Tobacco in a report on Friday, June 13th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of British American Tobacco in a report on Wednesday. They set a "buy" rating for the company. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of British American Tobacco in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. They set a "buy" rating for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $33.00.

British American Tobacco Trading Up 0.7%

BTI stock traded up $0.35 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $51.17. 7,858,501 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,283,091. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $105.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.51, a PEG ratio of 4.68 and a beta of 0.33. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $46.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.99. British American Tobacco p.l.c. has a 12-month low of $31.92 and a 12-month high of $51.38.

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 dividend of $0.7391 per share. This represents a yield of 5.99%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 27th. British American Tobacco's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.78%.

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.