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

British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI) saw some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Traders purchased 9,892 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 50% compared to the typical daily volume of 6,607 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on BTI shares. Bank of America started coverage on British American Tobacco in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded British American Tobacco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $33.00.

British American Tobacco Stock Performance

Shares of BTI stock opened at $48.57 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $43.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.37. The company has a market cap of $100.40 billion, a PE ratio of 9.97 and a beta of 0.31. 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 12-month low of $30.33 and a 12-month high of $49.05.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On British American Tobacco

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its position in shares of British American Tobacco by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 33,866 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,401,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Applied Capital LLC FL raised its position in shares of British American Tobacco by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Applied Capital LLC FL now owns 23,284 shares of the company’s stock valued at $963,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC raised its position in shares of British American Tobacco by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 8,904 shares of the company’s stock valued at $323,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares during the last quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of British American Tobacco by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC now owns 16,715 shares of the company’s stock valued at $691,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Keystone Financial Group lifted its position in British American Tobacco by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Keystone Financial Group now owns 17,695 shares of the company’s stock worth $643,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares during the period. 16.16% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.