British American Tobacco Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:BTI)

British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI) saw unusually large options trading on Thursday. Traders acquired 181,297 call options on the company. This is an increase of 2,212% compared to the typical volume of 7,842 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On British American Tobacco

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BTI. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of British American Tobacco by 67.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,105,356 shares of the company’s stock worth $259,914,000 after buying an additional 2,868,675 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in British American Tobacco during the 3rd quarter worth $28,183,000. Bridgewater Associates LP bought a new stake in British American Tobacco during the third quarter valued at about $27,118,000. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of British American Tobacco by 29.9% in 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 last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in shares of British American Tobacco by 3,153.0% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 572,077 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,927,000 after purchasing an additional 554,491 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 16.16% of the company’s stock.

British American Tobacco Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BTI opened at $36.24 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $36.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $35.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.88. British American Tobacco has a 52 week low of $28.25 and a 52 week high of $39.54. The firm has a market cap of $75.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.57 and a beta of 0.53.

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.