British American Tobacco p.l.c. $BTI Holdings Lifted by Blue Trust Inc.

Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI) by 12.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,948 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,148 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in British American Tobacco were worth $1,323,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd grew its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 2,040,011 shares in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of British American Tobacco by 59.8% during the first 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. Newport Trust Company LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $114,779,000 after buying an additional 31,205 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of British American Tobacco by 1.5% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,473,942 shares of the company’s stock valued at $102,347,000 after buying an additional 35,926 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in British American Tobacco by 3.0% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,447,083 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,866,000 after purchasing an additional 42,531 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 16.16% of the company’s stock.

British American Tobacco Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BTI opened at $51.50 on Friday. British American Tobacco p.l.c. has a fifty-two week low of $34.17 and a fifty-two week high of $59.29. The business has a 50-day moving average of $55.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $49.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $105.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.57, a P/E/G ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.55.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BTI has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating on shares of British American Tobacco in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Argus upgraded British American Tobacco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $62.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada downgraded British American Tobacco from a “sector perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of British American Tobacco in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on British American Tobacco in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, British American Tobacco currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.00.

British American Tobacco 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.