Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Put Options on Teck Resources (NYSE:TECK)

Teck Resources Limited (NYSE:TECK) (TSE:TECK) saw some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Traders bought 14,855 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 101% compared to the average volume of 7,382 put options.

Teck Resources Stock Performance

Shares of TECK traded up $0.81 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $43.51. The stock had a trading volume of 1,613,866 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,811,752. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a market cap of $21.70 billion, a PE ratio of 66.02 and a beta of 1.02. Teck Resources has a fifty-two week low of $37.30 and a fifty-two week high of $55.13. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $42.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $45.75.

Teck Resources (NYSE:TECK) (TSE:TECK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The basic materials company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.07. Teck Resources had a net margin of 3.32% and a return on equity of 6.37%. On average, equities analysts expect that Teck Resources will post 1.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TECK has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Teck Resources from $55.00 to $51.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Raymond James lowered their target price on Teck Resources from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded Teck Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. UBS Group lowered shares of Teck Resources from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Teck Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $50.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Teck Resources has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $65.38.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Teck Resources

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Teck Resources in the fourth quarter valued at $470,101,000. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Teck Resources during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $103,878,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership bought a new position in Teck Resources in the 4th quarter worth approximately $65,197,000. FMR LLC increased its position in Teck Resources by 72.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,634,430 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $189,848,000 after acquiring an additional 1,531,563 shares during the period. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its stake in Teck Resources by 32.2% during the 4th quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 6,020,023 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $244,252,000 after acquiring an additional 1,467,516 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.06% of the company’s stock.

About Teck Resources

Teck Resources Limited engages in exploring for, acquiring, developing, and producing natural resources in Asia, Europe, and North America. The company operates through Steelmaking Coal, Copper, Zinc, and Energy segments. Its principal products include copper, zinc, steelmaking coal, and blended bitumen.