AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 11,841 British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI)

AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 11,841 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $430,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. FMR LLC grew its holdings in British American Tobacco by 67.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,105,356 shares of the company’s stock valued at $259,914,000 after buying an additional 2,868,675 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its position in British American Tobacco by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 3,010,687 shares of the company’s stock worth $109,348,000 after purchasing an additional 137,231 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in British American Tobacco in the 4th quarter valued at about $55,620,000. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in British American Tobacco by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 967,976 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,157,000 after purchasing an additional 111,033 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ABC Arbitrage SA purchased a new stake in shares of British American Tobacco during the fourth quarter worth about $31,480,000. 16.16% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on BTI. UBS Group upgraded shares of British American Tobacco from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com raised British American Tobacco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 17th.

British American Tobacco Price Performance

BTI opened at $41.14 on Friday. British American Tobacco p.l.c. has a 1 year low of $28.25 and a 1 year high of $42.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.76. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $39.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.21 billion, a PE ratio of 8.45 and a beta of 0.50.

British American Tobacco Dividend Announcement

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

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.