The Food and Drug Administration has temporarily lifted its ban on Juul products
Altria Group Inc (NYSE:MO) is up 1.6% at $42.37, after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said it was temporarily lifting its ban on Juul e-cigarette products as it conducts an additional review of Juul's marketing application. Altria owns a 35% stake in the company, and has been feeling the heat as the FDA looks to take Juul products off the shelves in the U.S. for good. The agency added, however, that the "stay and the agency's review does not constitute authorization to market, sell, of ship JUUL products."
Last month was a miserable one for Altria stock, which lost 22.8% in June, marking its biggest monthly drop on record. The equity looks to have found a floor at the $41 level, which marks an annual low for MO, while the 10-day moving average has been keeping a lid on any additional upside gains.
Despite the recent plummet, short sellers have been hitting the exits. Short interest dropped 14.7% in the last reporting period, and now makes up just a slim 1% of the stock's available float.
Options bears, on the other hand, have been targeting MO at an elevated clip. This is per the security's Schaeffer's 10-day put.call volume ratio of 0.99 at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), which sits higher than all but 2% of readings from the past year.