Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC Increases Stock Holdings in British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI)

Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC increased its stake in British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI) by 202.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,369,751 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 917,334 shares during the quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC’s holdings in British American Tobacco were worth $49,749,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of British American Tobacco by 24.4% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 6,094,244 shares of the company’s stock worth $221,343,000 after purchasing an additional 1,196,020 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in British American Tobacco by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 3,010,687 shares of the company’s stock worth $109,348,000 after buying an additional 137,231 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in British American Tobacco during the 4th quarter worth approximately $55,620,000. First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of British American Tobacco by 13.0% during the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 967,976 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,157,000 after acquiring an additional 111,033 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ABC Arbitrage SA purchased a new position in shares of British American Tobacco in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,480,000. 16.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

British American Tobacco Trading Down 4.6 %

BTI opened at $39.99 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $82.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.21 and a beta of 0.38. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $40.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.72. 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 current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.58.

British American Tobacco Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.7491 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. British American Tobacco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 60.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on BTI shares. UBS Group upgraded British American Tobacco from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com raised shares of British American Tobacco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 17th.

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.