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

British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI) saw unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders bought 113,142 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 1,611% compared to the average daily volume of 6,614 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BTI. Bank of America began coverage on shares of British American Tobacco in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of British American Tobacco in a research report on Friday, June 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, British American Tobacco currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $33.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On British American Tobacco

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in British American Tobacco by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 5,458 shares of the company’s stock worth $198,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its stake in shares of British American Tobacco by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 39,995 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,453,000 after buying an additional 4,493 shares during the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of British American Tobacco by 19.0% in the 4th quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 13,417 shares of the company’s stock worth $487,000 after buying an additional 2,141 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in British American Tobacco during the 4th quarter valued at about $77,000. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC increased its holdings in British American Tobacco by 34.7% during the 4th quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 1,853 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 477 shares in the last quarter. 16.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

British American Tobacco Stock Performance

NYSE:BTI opened at $48.10 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $45.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market cap of $99.31 billion, a PE ratio of 9.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.01 and a beta of 0.31. British American Tobacco has a fifty-two week low of $30.81 and a fifty-two week high of $49.58.

British American Tobacco Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.7391 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 27th. This represents a yield of 5.99%. British American Tobacco’s payout ratio is currently 65.09%.

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.