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

British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI - Get Free Report) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders bought 9,892 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 50% compared to the typical daily volume of 6,607 call options.

British American Tobacco Stock Performance

BTI traded down $0.28 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $48.50. 5,771,139 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,112,563. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.29. British American Tobacco has a 12 month low of $30.33 and a 12 month high of $49.04. The stock has a market cap of $100.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.96 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.58.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of BTI. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in British American Tobacco by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,288 shares of the company's stock worth $483,000 after acquiring an additional 789 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of British American Tobacco by 92.0% in the 4th quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 25,171 shares of the company's stock worth $914,000 after purchasing an additional 12,059 shares during the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of British American Tobacco by 30.9% in the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 10,392 shares of the company's stock worth $377,000 after purchasing an additional 2,456 shares during the last quarter. MADDEN SECURITIES Corp lifted its holdings in shares of British American Tobacco by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. MADDEN SECURITIES Corp now owns 34,310 shares of the company's stock worth $1,246,000 after purchasing an additional 3,375 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Edmp Inc. bought a new stake in British American Tobacco in the fourth quarter valued at $219,000. 16.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BTI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of British American Tobacco in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of British American Tobacco from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, February 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $33.00.

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.