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

British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI)’s stock price 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 trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on BTI shares. UBS Group upgraded British American Tobacco from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com cut British American Tobacco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th.

British American Tobacco Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $36.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

British American Tobacco Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 30th will be given a dividend of $0.7391 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 30th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.62%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On British American Tobacco

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in BTI. Capital International Investors lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 5,673,619 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of British American Tobacco by 44.0% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,232,402 shares of the company’s stock worth $371,641,000 after buying an additional 3,127,046 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in shares of British American Tobacco by 2,565.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 2,079,322 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,521,000 after buying an additional 2,001,311 shares in the last quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP increased its stake in British American Tobacco by 261.7% during the fourth quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 2,681,379 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,388,000 after acquiring an additional 1,940,035 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in British American Tobacco during the fourth quarter worth approximately $55,620,000. 16.16% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.