Imperial Tobacco Group PLC (OTCMKTS:IMBBY) Short Interest Update

Key Points

• Short interest plunged 79.1% — short interest fell to 36,326 shares as of April 15 from 173,987 on March 31, leaving a days-to-cover ratio of just 0.1 based on average daily volume and reporting 0.0% of shares currently short.
• Analyst downgrade to Hold — UBS cut Imperial Tobacco from "strong-buy" to "hold" on April 15, and the stock's consensus rating is now "Hold" with two analysts on that rating.
• Shares traded down to $37.42 (down 0.1%) on below-average volume of 127,594 versus a 189,077 average, trading below the 50- and 200-day SMAs (~$41.5) and closer to its 52-week low of $35.48; liquidity and leverage metrics show a quick ratio of 0.37, current ratio of 0.74 and debt-to-equity of 1.57.

Imperial Tobacco Group PLC (OTCMKTS:IMBBY - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant decline in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 36,326 shares, a decline of 79.1% from the March 31st total of 173,987 shares. Currently, 0.0% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 297,772 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.1 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, UBS Group cut Imperial Tobacco Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold".

Imperial Tobacco Group Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of Imperial Tobacco Group stock traded down $0.04 on Friday, reaching $37.42. The company's stock had a trading volume of 127,594 shares, compared to its average volume of 189,077. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $41.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.80. Imperial Tobacco Group has a 52 week low of $35.48 and a 52 week high of $45.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57.

Imperial Tobacco Group Company Profile

Imperial Tobacco Group, historically established in the United Kingdom in 1901 and now operating under the Imperial Brands name, is a multinational tobacco and nicotine company headquartered in Bristol, England. The company's core business is the manufacture, marketing and sale of tobacco products and alternative nicotine offerings to adult consumers. It supplies products through a combination of owned channels and third-party distributors and focuses on managing an international portfolio of consumer tobacco and nicotine brands.

Product categories include manufactured cigarettes, cigars and fine-cut tobacco for roll-your-own use, together with a growing range of next-generation nicotine products such as vaping devices, heated tobacco and non-combustible nicotine formats that reflect a strategic shift toward reduced-risk alternatives.

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