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

British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI) was the recipient of a significant 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 presently 1.5 days. Approximately 0.3% of the shares of the company are short sold.

British American Tobacco Trading Up 2.5 %

Shares of British American Tobacco stock opened at $36.39 on Friday. 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 current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $36.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $34.11.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. 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 lowered British American Tobacco from an “overweight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $33.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Barclays upgraded British American Tobacco to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On British American Tobacco

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bank of Montreal Can lifted 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 in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 increased its stake in shares of British American Tobacco by 19.5% during the first quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 74,416 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,270,000 after purchasing an additional 12,150 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position 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 last quarter. Finally, Auxier Asset Management lifted its stake in British American Tobacco by 16.0% in the 2nd quarter. Auxier Asset Management now owns 186,796 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,778,000 after buying an additional 25,800 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 21.44% of the company’s stock.

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.