British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI) Shares Purchased by Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC

Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC raised its holdings in British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI) by 202.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,369,751 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 917,334 shares during the quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC owned about 0.07% of British American Tobacco worth $49,749,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BTI. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of British American Tobacco during the fourth quarter worth $55,620,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in British American Tobacco by 24.4% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 6,094,244 shares of the company’s stock valued at $221,343,000 after purchasing an additional 1,196,020 shares during the last quarter. ABC Arbitrage SA acquired a new position in shares of British American Tobacco in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,480,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in shares of British American Tobacco in the third quarter worth about $28,183,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of British American Tobacco during the fourth quarter worth about $11,820,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 16.16% of the company’s stock.

British American Tobacco Trading Down 4.6 %

British American Tobacco stock opened at $39.99 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market cap of $82.84 billion, a PE ratio of 8.21 and a beta of 0.38. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $40.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.72. British American Tobacco p.l.c. has a 12 month low of $28.25 and a 12 month high of $42.74.

British American Tobacco Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on BTI. UBS Group upgraded shares of British American Tobacco from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com raised shares of British American Tobacco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 17th.

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.