Investors Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Teck Resources (NYSE:TECK)

Teck Resources Limited (NYSE:TECK) (TSE:TECK) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Stock investors purchased 12,112 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 90% compared to the average daily volume of 6,362 call options.

Teck Resources Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of TECK stock opened at $43.19 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $21.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.43 and a beta of 1.05. Teck Resources has a 52 week low of $36.50 and a 52 week high of $55.13. 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’s fifty day simple moving average is $43.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $46.64.

Teck Resources (NYSE:TECK) (TSE:TECK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The basic materials company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $2.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.09 billion. Teck Resources had a net margin of 3.32% and a return on equity of 6.37%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 20.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.57 EPS. Analysts predict that Teck Resources will post 1.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Teck Resources Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a $0.0895 dividend. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Teck Resources’s payout ratio is currently 53.03%.

Institutional Trading of Teck Resources

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Global Trust Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Teck Resources during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Teck Resources by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC now owns 7,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $284,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Teck Resources during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,350,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Teck Resources by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 8,960 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $363,000 after buying an additional 486 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Leibman Financial Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Teck Resources by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Leibman Financial Services Inc. now owns 98,025 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,973,000 after buying an additional 1,275 shares in the last quarter. 78.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on TECK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Teck Resources from $55.00 to $51.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup raised shares of Teck Resources to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Teck Resources from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. National Bank Financial downgraded shares of Teck Resources from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Teck Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $50.00 target price for the company. in a report on Friday, October 25th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Teck Resources presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $64.71.

Teck Resources Company Profile

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.