TC Energy Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:TRP)

TC Energy Co. (NYSE:TRP) (TSE:TRP) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock traders acquired 16,157 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 1,446% compared to the typical daily volume of 1,045 put options.

TC Energy Price Performance

Shares of TRP stock opened at $35.10 on Thursday. TC Energy has a twelve month low of $32.51 and a twelve month high of $42.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.29, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.75. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65.

TC Energy (NYSE:TRP) (TSE:TRP) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 16th. The pipeline company reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.20. TC Energy had a return on equity of 18.60% and a net margin of 18.25%. The business had revenue of $3.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.93 billion. On average, analysts predict that TC Energy will post 2.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

TC Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.714 per share. This is a boost from TC Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. TC Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 139.41%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On TC Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in shares of TC Energy by 23.7% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in shares of TC Energy by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 55,161,245 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,155,419,000 after purchasing an additional 5,822,056 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of TC Energy by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,404,299 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,579,404,000 after purchasing an additional 778,359 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in shares of TC Energy by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 37,412,046 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,461,583,000 after purchasing an additional 181,091 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia increased its holdings in shares of TC Energy by 13.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 28,980,334 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,132,854,000 after purchasing an additional 3,497,666 shares during the period. 83.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on TRP. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on TC Energy from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on TC Energy in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus began coverage on TC Energy in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. TheStreet raised TC Energy from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on TC Energy from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $48.83.

About TC Energy

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.