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

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

TC Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE TRP opened at $48.41 on Thursday. TC Energy has a 1 year low of $31.83 and a 1 year high of $50.37. The firm has a market cap of $50.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.41, a PEG ratio of 4.12 and a beta of 0.81. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $47.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $43.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.31.

TC Energy (NYSE:TRP) (TSE:TRP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The pipeline company reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.06. TC Energy had a return on equity of 12.92% and a net margin of 31.15%. The business had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.83 billion. Research analysts forecast that TC Energy will post 2.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

TC Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.822 dividend. This is an increase from TC Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.29 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. TC Energy’s payout ratio is presently 78.95%.

Institutional Trading of TC Energy

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in shares of TC Energy by 107.1% during the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 19,462,155 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $737,609,000 after acquiring an additional 10,065,000 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in shares of TC Energy by 4.1% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 11,892,999 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $450,749,000 after purchasing an additional 467,497 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of TC Energy by 2.6% during the second quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 8,515,086 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $322,584,000 after purchasing an additional 214,689 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its position in shares of TC Energy by 156.1% in the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 6,769,975 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $321,778,000 after purchasing an additional 4,126,801 shares during the period. Finally, Cardinal Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in TC Energy by 101.4% in the 2nd quarter. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,068,758 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $192,024,000 after purchasing an additional 2,551,926 shares in the last quarter. 83.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group raised TC Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of TC Energy from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of TC Energy from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Veritas raised TC Energy to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on TC Energy in a report on Tuesday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $55.67.

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.