Philip Morris International (PM: sentiment, chart, options) shares are fractionally higher after the company recommended that its shareholders reject an unsolicited mini-tender offer from TRC Capital Corp. The investor wants to purchase 2 million shares of PM's outstanding common stock, or roughly 0.09%. The group's offer price of $49.25 per share marks a 3.5% discount to PM's April 28 closing price of $51.07 (the day prior to the tender offer).

In a company statement, Philip Morris recommended that stockholders not tender their shares in response to the bid. PM cited a Securities and Exchange Commission statement noting that the bidders of below-market mini-tender offers are "hoping that they will catch investors off guard if the investors do not compare the offer price to the current market price."

Currently, PM is trading around $50.75. The recent Altria Group (MO) spin-off is edging sideways, having spent its brief trading life sandwiched between the 47 and 53 levels. Option traders seem bullishly aligned; the stock's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio is 0.55, with calls nearly doubling puts among near-term options.