Traders Buy Large Volume of British American Tobacco Call Options (NYSE:BTI)

British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI) saw unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock traders bought 57,007 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 746% compared to the average daily volume of 6,737 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

British American Tobacco Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE:BTI opened at $40.53 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $83.94 billion, a PE ratio of 8.32 and a beta of 0.50. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.66. British American Tobacco has a 1 year low of $28.25 and a 1 year high of $42.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.58.

British American Tobacco Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of British American Tobacco

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in British American Tobacco by 46.4% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 24,262 shares of the company’s stock valued at $887,000 after buying an additional 7,686 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of British American Tobacco by 4.8% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 128,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,712,000 after purchasing an additional 5,900 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in British American Tobacco by 25.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 131,871 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,824,000 after purchasing an additional 26,863 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. raised its position in British American Tobacco by 35.0% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 166,353 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,085,000 after purchasing an additional 43,098 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of British American Tobacco by 89.6% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 66,130 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,419,000 after buying an additional 31,250 shares during the period. 16.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.