Investors Buy High Volume of British American Tobacco Call Options (NYSE:BTI)

British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Investors purchased 57,007 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 746% compared to the typical volume of 6,737 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BTI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group upgraded shares of British American Tobacco from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com raised British American Tobacco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 17th.

British American Tobacco Stock Up 0.8 %

BTI opened at $41.14 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $39.78 and a 200-day moving average of $37.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.45 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. British American Tobacco has a 1-year low of $28.25 and a 1-year high of $42.74.

British American Tobacco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a $0.7491 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. British American Tobacco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.57%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BTI. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of British American Tobacco by 17.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 38,873,006 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,411,179,000 after buying an additional 5,673,619 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of British American Tobacco by 44.0% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,232,402 shares of the company’s stock worth $371,641,000 after acquiring an additional 3,127,046 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in shares of British American Tobacco by 2,565.4% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 2,079,322 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,521,000 after purchasing an additional 2,001,311 shares in the last quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP increased its position in shares of British American Tobacco by 261.7% during the fourth quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 2,681,379 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,388,000 after purchasing an additional 1,940,035 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of British American Tobacco in the fourth quarter valued at $55,620,000. Institutional investors own 16.16% 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.