British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI) Short Interest Up 28.8% in October

British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 6,440,000 shares, an increase of 28.8% from the October 15th total of 5,000,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 4,400,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.5 days. Currently, 0.3% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

British American Tobacco Trading Up 2.5 %

Shares of BTI stock opened at $36.39 on Friday. British American Tobacco has a twelve month low of $28.25 and a twelve month high of $39.54. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $36.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $34.11. 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 and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of Montreal Can raised its position in shares of British American Tobacco by 26.2% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 113,811 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,658,000 after buying an additional 23,626 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its position in British American Tobacco by 35.6% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 207,724 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,599,000 after purchasing an additional 54,555 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc lifted its stake in shares of British American Tobacco by 19.5% in the 1st quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 74,416 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,270,000 after purchasing an additional 12,150 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of British American Tobacco by 131.8% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 2,796 shares of the company’s stock worth $85,000 after purchasing an additional 1,590 shares during the period. Finally, Auxier Asset Management increased its position in shares of British American Tobacco by 16.0% during the 2nd quarter. Auxier Asset Management now owns 186,796 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,778,000 after purchasing an additional 25,800 shares during the last quarter. 21.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

British American Tobacco Company 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.