British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI) Short Interest Up 6.1% in November

British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 5,940,000 shares, a growth of 6.1% from the November 15th total of 5,600,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 4,550,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.3 days. Approximately 0.3% of the company’s shares are sold short.

British American Tobacco Stock Performance

BTI traded down $0.34 on Tuesday, reaching $37.31. 3,852,440 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,712,658. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $36.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $35.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $77.58 billion, a PE ratio of 7.79 and a beta of 0.53. British American Tobacco has a fifty-two week low of $28.25 and a fifty-two week high of $39.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.58.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On British American Tobacco

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in British American Tobacco by 67.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,105,356 shares of the company’s stock valued at $259,914,000 after acquiring an additional 2,868,675 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in British American Tobacco during the third quarter worth $28,183,000. Bridgewater Associates LP purchased a new stake in shares of British American Tobacco in the third quarter valued at about $27,118,000. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its stake 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 buying an additional 614,634 shares during the period. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its position in British American Tobacco by 3,153.0% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 572,077 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,927,000 after acquiring an additional 554,491 shares during the period. 16.16% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on BTI shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of British American Tobacco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Morgan Stanley cut British American Tobacco from an “overweight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $33.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Barclays raised British American Tobacco to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th.

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.