Morgan Stanley Downgrades British American Tobacco (NYSE:BTI) to Underweight

British American Tobacco (NYSE:BTI) was downgraded by Morgan Stanley from an “overweight” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $33.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price suggests a potential downside of 8.24% from the stock’s current price.

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of British American Tobacco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 11th.

British American Tobacco Price Performance

NYSE:BTI opened at $35.97 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $79.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.43, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.58. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $36.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $32.93. British American Tobacco has a 1 year low of $28.25 and a 1 year high of $39.54.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in shares of British American Tobacco by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,836,365 shares of the company’s stock worth $117,009,000 after acquiring an additional 13,643 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of British American Tobacco by 29.9% during the second quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 2,667,339 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,501,000 after purchasing an additional 614,634 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in shares of British American Tobacco by 1.9% in the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,279,765 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,513,000 after purchasing an additional 43,006 shares during the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in British American Tobacco by 7.9% during the 2nd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 779,478 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,109,000 after buying an additional 57,016 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its position in British American Tobacco by 25.0% in the 1st quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 487,983 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,887,000 after buying an additional 97,556 shares during the period. 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.