British American Tobacco (NYSE:BTI) Hits New 12-Month High - Should You Buy?

British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $43.04 and last traded at $42.98, with a volume of 1818081 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $42.55.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on BTI. StockNews.com raised shares of British American Tobacco from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 17th. UBS Group upgraded shares of British American Tobacco from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th.

British American Tobacco Trading Up 0.5 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $88.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.78 and a beta of 0.38. The business has a 50 day moving average of $40.37 and a 200-day moving average of $38.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

British American Tobacco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a $0.7491 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. British American Tobacco's payout ratio is currently 60.57%.

Institutional Trading of British American Tobacco

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in shares of British American Tobacco by 17.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 38,873,006 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,411,179,000 after purchasing an additional 5,673,619 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in British American Tobacco by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 15,594,361 shares of the company's stock worth $566,381,000 after purchasing an additional 47,439 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of British American Tobacco by 44.0% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in British American Tobacco by 24.4% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 6,094,244 shares of the company's stock valued at $221,343,000 after acquiring an additional 1,196,020 shares during the period. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of British American Tobacco by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 3,010,687 shares of the company's stock valued at $109,348,000 after purchasing an additional 137,231 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 16.16% of the company's stock.

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.

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