British American Tobacco (NYSE:BTI) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI) shares gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $42.74, but opened at $38.68. British American Tobacco shares last traded at $38.53, with a volume of 3,688,054 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group upgraded British American Tobacco from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com cut British American Tobacco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th.

British American Tobacco Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.58. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.92.

British American Tobacco Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 30th will be issued a $0.7391 dividend. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 30th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of British American Tobacco by 294.9% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 703 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 525 shares during the period. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of British American Tobacco in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc purchased a new position in shares of British American Tobacco in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. lifted its stake in shares of British American Tobacco by 334.4% in the 4th quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 1,099 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 846 shares during the period. Finally, ORG Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of British American Tobacco by 35.1% in the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 1,151 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.