Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Invests $1.46 Million in British American Tobacco p.l.c. $BTI

Key Points

• Verdence Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in British American Tobacco, investing approximately $1.46 million for 30,896 shares in the second quarter.
• Notable hedge funds, including Orbis Allan Gray Ltd and GQG Partners LLC, have significantly increased their stakes in British American Tobacco, reflecting growing institutional interest.
• Analysts maintain a consensus rating of "Hold" on the stock, with mixed evaluations from various firms, including a "buy" rating from Jefferies Financial Group and an "underperform" rating from Morgan Stanley.

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 30,896 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,462,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd lifted its position in British American Tobacco by 20.4% in the first quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 12,021,231 shares of the company's stock valued at $497,318,000 after purchasing an additional 2,040,011 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC lifted its position in British American Tobacco by 59.8% in the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 9,598,465 shares of the company's stock valued at $397,089,000 after purchasing an additional 3,590,916 shares during the period. Newport Trust Company LLC lifted its position in British American Tobacco by 1.1% in the first quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC now owns 2,774,460 shares of the company's stock valued at $114,779,000 after purchasing an additional 31,205 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in British American Tobacco by 1.5% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,473,942 shares of the company's stock valued at $102,347,000 after purchasing an additional 35,926 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in British American Tobacco by 3.0% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,447,083 shares of the company's stock valued at $59,866,000 after purchasing an additional 42,531 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 16.16% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on BTI shares. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of British American Tobacco in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley restated an "underweight" rating and issued a $40.00 price objective on shares of British American Tobacco in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of British American Tobacco in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada cut shares of British American Tobacco from a "sector perform" rating to an "underperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of British American Tobacco from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $51.00.

British American Tobacco Stock Down 1.5%

BTI stock opened at $50.79 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $104.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.43, a PEG ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.87. British American Tobacco p.l.c. has a one year low of $34.17 and a one year high of $59.29. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $55.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $49.29.

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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