Employees Retirement System of Texas Takes $5.06 Million Position in British American Tobacco p.l.c. $BTI

Employees Retirement System of Texas bought a new stake in shares of British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 107,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,064,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BTI. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd boosted its holdings in British American Tobacco by 20.4% during 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 in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC boosted its stake in British American Tobacco by 59.8% in the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 9,598,465 shares of the company’s stock valued at $397,089,000 after buying an additional 3,590,916 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in British American Tobacco by 93.0% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,792,258 shares of the company’s stock valued at $132,158,000 after acquiring an additional 1,345,175 shares during the period. Newport Trust Company LLC raised its stake in British American Tobacco by 1.1% during the first quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC now owns 2,774,460 shares of the company’s stock worth $114,779,000 after acquiring an additional 31,205 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of British American Tobacco by 201.6% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,748,324 shares of the company’s stock valued at $130,078,000 after acquiring an additional 1,837,106 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 16.16% of the company’s stock.

British American Tobacco Stock Performance

BTI opened at $57.80 on Thursday. British American Tobacco p.l.c. has a 1-year low of $34.82 and a 1-year high of $59.29. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $53.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $51.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on BTI shares. Argus raised shares of British American Tobacco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $62.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, September 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered shares of British American Tobacco from a “sector perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of British American Tobacco in a report on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of British American Tobacco in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, British American Tobacco presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.00.

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.