Short Interest in British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI) Drops By 5.6%

British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,210,000 shares, a decline of 5.6% from the February 29th total of 5,520,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 4,990,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.0 days. Currently, 0.2% of the company's shares are sold short.

British American Tobacco Stock Down 0.1 %

BTI stock traded down $0.02 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $30.33. 3,189,660 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,872,225. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.28, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.53. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $30.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. British American Tobacco has a 1 year low of $28.35 and a 1 year high of $37.65.

British American Tobacco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 6th. Investors of record on Friday, December 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.7431 per share. This represents a $2.97 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 20th. British American Tobacco's payout ratio is 60.66%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On British American Tobacco

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BTI. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC purchased a new position in British American Tobacco in the fourth quarter worth $440,000. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in British American Tobacco by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 34,634 shares of the company's stock worth $1,039,000 after purchasing an additional 3,999 shares during the last quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. purchased a new position in British American Tobacco in the fourth quarter worth $121,000. Virtu Financial LLC grew its holdings in British American Tobacco by 275.3% in the fourth quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 163,280 shares of the company's stock worth $4,782,000 after purchasing an additional 119,778 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sunpointe LLC purchased a new position in British American Tobacco in the fourth quarter worth $219,000. 21.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.