Morgan Stanley Downgrades British American Tobacco (NYSE:BTI) to Underweight

British American Tobacco (NYSE:BTI) was downgraded by research analysts at Morgan Stanley from an “overweight” rating to an “underweight” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $33.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective indicates a potential downside of 6.48% from the stock’s previous close.

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded shares of British American Tobacco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 11th.

British American Tobacco Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of BTI opened at $35.29 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $36.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $32.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.52. British American Tobacco has a 12-month low of $28.25 and a 12-month high of $39.54.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On British American Tobacco

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BTI. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of British American Tobacco by 29.9% in the 2nd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 2,667,339 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,501,000 after purchasing an additional 614,634 shares in the last quarter. Kize Capital LP purchased a new stake in British American Tobacco during the second quarter worth $10,826,000. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC boosted its position in British American Tobacco by 384.5% during the 2nd quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 327,007 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,114,000 after acquiring an additional 259,509 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of British American Tobacco by 42.5% in the 1st quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 722,462 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,035,000 after acquiring an additional 215,305 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morningstar Investment Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of British American Tobacco during the 4th quarter worth $6,148,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 21.44% 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.