Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. Invests $256,000 in British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI)

Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 6,199 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $256,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of British American Tobacco by 17.1% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in shares of British American Tobacco by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 15,594,361 shares of the company’s stock valued at $566,381,000 after buying an additional 47,439 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of British American Tobacco by 44.0% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,232,402 shares of the company’s stock valued at $371,641,000 after purchasing an additional 3,127,046 shares during the period. Bridgewater Associates LP lifted its holdings in British American Tobacco by 261.7% in the 4th quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 2,681,379 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,388,000 after buying an additional 1,940,035 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in British American Tobacco by 33.6% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,438,016 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,549,000 after purchasing an additional 612,907 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 16.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on BTI. Wall Street Zen cut British American Tobacco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of British American Tobacco in a report on Friday, June 13th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of British American Tobacco in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on British American Tobacco in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, British American Tobacco currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $33.00.

British American Tobacco Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of BTI stock opened at $54.35 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $112.11 billion, a PE ratio of 11.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.96 and a beta of 0.38. 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 p.l.c. has a 1 year low of $34.12 and a 1 year high of $54.91. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $49.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $43.65.

British American Tobacco Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.7391 per share. This represents a yield of 599.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 27th. British American Tobacco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.78%.

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.