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

British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTIGet Free Report) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Investors bought 181,297 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 2,212% compared to the typical volume of 7,842 call options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of British American Tobacco by 67.7% during the 3rd 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 period. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of British American Tobacco by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 2,873,456 shares of the company’s stock valued at $105,111,000 after purchasing an additional 206,117 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of 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 worth $24,109,000 after purchasing an additional 57,016 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in British American Tobacco during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,183,000. Finally, Bridgewater Associates LP acquired a new position in British American Tobacco in the third quarter valued at about $27,118,000. Institutional investors own 16.16% of the company’s stock.

British American Tobacco Price Performance

Shares of BTI stock traded up $0.02 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $37.02. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,725,707 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,699,055. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.88. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $36.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $35.24. British American Tobacco has a 1-year low of $28.25 and a 1-year high of $39.54. The company has a market cap of $76.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.73 and a beta of 0.53.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BTI has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of 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. Barclays raised shares of British American Tobacco to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of British American Tobacco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on BTI

British American Tobacco Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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