British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.74

British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, February 18th,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 30th will be paid a dividend of 0.7391 per share on Monday, February 9th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 30th.

British American Tobacco has raised its dividend payment by an average of 0.4% annually over the last three years. British American Tobacco has a dividend payout ratio of 60.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect British American Tobacco to earn $4.99 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 60.1%.

British American Tobacco Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BTI opened at $38.41 on Thursday. British American Tobacco has a 12-month low of $28.25 and a 12-month high of $42.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $37.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.01.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on BTI. StockNews.com upgraded British American Tobacco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. UBS Group upgraded British American Tobacco from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th.

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.