British American Tobacco (NYSE:BTI) Cut to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of British American Tobacco (NYSE:BTI) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Sunday morning.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on BTI. Bank of America assumed coverage on British American Tobacco in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of British American Tobacco in a research report on Friday, June 13th. One investment 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $33.00.

British American Tobacco Price Performance

Shares of British American Tobacco stock opened at $47.92 on Friday. British American Tobacco has a one year low of $31.50 and a one year high of $49.58. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $45.94 and its 200 day moving average is $41.74. The stock has a market cap of $98.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.84, a P/E/G ratio of 4.52 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.76.

British American Tobacco Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 6th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a $0.7391 dividend. This represents a yield of 5.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 27th. British American Tobacco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 60.78%.

Institutional Trading of British American Tobacco

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its position in shares of British American Tobacco by 0.7% during the first quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 33,866 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,401,000 after acquiring an additional 244 shares during the period. Applied Capital LLC FL increased its position in shares of British American Tobacco by 1.1% during the first quarter. Applied Capital LLC FL now owns 23,284 shares of the company’s stock worth $963,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares during the period. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC increased its position in shares of British American Tobacco by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 8,904 shares of the company’s stock worth $323,000 after acquiring an additional 258 shares during the period. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of British American Tobacco by 1.6% during the first quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC now owns 16,715 shares of the company’s stock worth $691,000 after acquiring an additional 258 shares during the period. Finally, Keystone Financial Group increased its holdings in British American Tobacco by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Keystone Financial Group now owns 17,695 shares of the company’s stock valued at $643,000 after buying an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 16.16% of the company’s stock.

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.