British American Tobacco p.l.c. Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.74 (NYSE:BTI)

British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, February 18th,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 30th will be given a dividend of 0.7391 per share on Monday, February 9th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 30th.

British American Tobacco has increased its dividend by an average of 0.4% per year over the last three years. British American Tobacco has a payout ratio of 60.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect British American Tobacco to earn $4.99 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 60.1%.

British American Tobacco Stock Down 2.0 %

NYSE:BTI opened at $38.05 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.00. British American Tobacco has a 12 month low of $28.25 and a 12 month high of $42.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.88.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com raised British American Tobacco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. UBS Group upgraded British American Tobacco from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th.

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.