British American Tobacco Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:BTI)

British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders bought 181,297 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 2,212% compared to the average daily volume of 7,842 call options.

British American Tobacco Trading Down 1.7 %

NYSE BTI opened at $36.24 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $36.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $35.29. The stock has a market cap of $75.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.57 and a beta of 0.53. British American Tobacco has a twelve month low of $28.25 and a twelve month high of $39.54. 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 brokerages recently issued reports on BTI. StockNews.com cut British American Tobacco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a 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 target on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Barclays raised shares of British American Tobacco to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. O Brien Greene & Co. Inc boosted its position in British American Tobacco by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. O Brien Greene & Co. Inc now owns 17,102 shares of the company’s stock worth $529,000 after acquiring an additional 289 shares during the period. First City Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of British American Tobacco by 2.8% during the third quarter. First City Capital Management Inc. now owns 10,890 shares of the company’s stock worth $398,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Grove Bank & Trust grew its position in British American Tobacco by 11.0% during the third quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 3,176 shares of the company’s stock valued at $116,000 after purchasing an additional 314 shares in the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust increased its stake in British American Tobacco by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 21,211 shares of the company’s stock valued at $776,000 after buying an additional 376 shares during the period. Finally, MADDEN SECURITIES Corp lifted its position in British American Tobacco by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. MADDEN SECURITIES Corp now owns 30,935 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,132,000 after buying an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 16.16% of the company’s stock.

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.