British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has issued a hold recommendation and seven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $51.00.

BTI has been the topic of several recent research reports. Argus upgraded shares of British American Tobacco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $62.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of British American Tobacco in a research report on Friday, November 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of British American Tobacco in a report on Friday, November 28th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of British American Tobacco in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut British American Tobacco from a “sector perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd.

Institutional Trading of British American Tobacco

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of British American Tobacco by 12,870.7% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 9,470,709 shares of the company’s stock worth $502,687,000 after purchasing an additional 9,397,693 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC grew its holdings in British American Tobacco by 59.8% during the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 9,598,465 shares of the company’s stock worth $397,089,000 after purchasing an additional 3,590,916 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its position in British American Tobacco by 2,066.9% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 3,476,001 shares of the company’s stock worth $164,519,000 after buying an additional 3,315,589 shares during the last quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd raised its stake in British American Tobacco by 20.7% in the second quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 14,503,968 shares of the company’s stock valued at $686,473,000 after buying an additional 2,482,737 shares during the period. Finally, Citigroup Inc. lifted its position in shares of British American Tobacco by 833.5% in the second quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 2,121,918 shares of the company’s stock valued at $100,430,000 after buying an additional 1,894,617 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 16.16% of the company’s stock.

British American Tobacco Stock Performance

Shares of BTI stock opened at $58.75 on Friday. British American Tobacco has a 12 month low of $34.82 and a 12 month high of $59.29. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $53.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $52.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.55.

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.