British American Tobacco (NYSE:BTI) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to Hold

British American Tobacco (NYSE:BTI - Get Free Report) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a note issued to investors on Sunday.

Several other research firms have also commented on BTI. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of British American Tobacco in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Bank of America began coverage on British American Tobacco in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. They set a "buy" rating for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $33.00.

British American Tobacco Trading Up 0.6%

British American Tobacco stock traded up $0.27 during trading on Friday, hitting $48.65. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,031,950 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,217,879. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.99, a P/E/G ratio of 4.65 and a beta of 0.33. The stock's fifty day moving average is $45.71 and its 200 day moving average is $41.61. British American Tobacco has a 1-year low of $31.50 and a 1-year high of $49.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.76.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On British American Tobacco

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of British American Tobacco by 17.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 38,873,006 shares of the company's stock worth $1,411,179,000 after buying an additional 5,673,619 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of British American Tobacco by 59.8% in the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 9,598,465 shares of the company's stock worth $397,089,000 after buying an additional 3,590,916 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of British American Tobacco by 44.0% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,232,402 shares of the company's stock worth $371,641,000 after buying an additional 3,127,046 shares during the period. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd boosted its position in shares of 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 worth $497,318,000 after buying an additional 2,040,011 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can boosted its position in shares of British American Tobacco by 2,565.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 2,079,322 shares of the company's stock worth $75,521,000 after buying an additional 2,001,311 shares during the period. 16.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.