Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Put Options on TC Energy (NYSE:TRP)

TC Energy Co. (NYSE:TRP) (TSE:TRP) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock traders purchased 16,157 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 1,446% compared to the average daily volume of 1,045 put options.

TC Energy Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of TRP stock opened at $46.02 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $46.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57. TC Energy has a fifty-two week low of $32.51 and a fifty-two week high of $47.38. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $43.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.29.

TC Energy (NYSE:TRP) (TSE:TRP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The pipeline company reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.29. TC Energy had a net margin of 21.31% and a return on equity of 16.97%. The business had revenue of $2.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.78 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.71 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that TC Energy will post 3.06 EPS for the current year.

TC Energy Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 27th will be given a dividend of $0.702 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 27th. This represents a $2.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.10%. TC Energy’s payout ratio is currently 146.39%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in TRP. Murchinson Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of TC Energy during the first quarter worth $506,485,000. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in shares of TC Energy by 23.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 55,677,989 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,174,931,000 after purchasing an additional 10,654,993 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in shares of TC Energy by 107.1% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 19,462,155 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $737,609,000 after purchasing an additional 10,065,000 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of TC Energy during the fourth quarter worth $341,262,000. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its stake in shares of TC Energy by 94.9% in the first quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 17,124,818 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $688,534,000 after buying an additional 8,339,800 shares during the last quarter. 83.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TRP has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of TC Energy in a research report on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Barclays raised shares of TC Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, TC Energy has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $43.50.

TC Energy Company Profile

TC Energy Corporation operates as an energy infrastructure company in North America. It operates through five segments: Canadian Natural Gas Pipelines; U.S. Natural Gas Pipelines; Mexico Natural Gas Pipelines; Liquids Pipelines; and Power and Energy Solutions. The company builds and operates a network of 93,600 kilometers of natural gas pipelines, which transports natural gas from supply basins to local distribution companies, power generation plants, industrial facilities, interconnecting pipelines, LNG export terminals, and other businesses.