Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of Call Options on Teck Resources (NYSE:TECK)

Teck Resources Limited (NYSE:TECK) (TSE:TECK) was the target of some unusual options trading on Friday. Traders bought 13,287 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 64% compared to the typical volume of 8,112 call options.

Teck Resources Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of TECK stock opened at $40.33 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.92, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Teck Resources has a twelve month low of $37.80 and a twelve month high of $55.13. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $41.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $45.56. The stock has a market cap of $20.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 73.32 and a beta of 1.02.

Teck Resources (NYSE:TECK) (TSE:TECK) last posted 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 2.96% and a return on equity of 4.59%. The company had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that Teck Resources will post 1.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Teck Resources Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.0879 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.35 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. Teck Resources’s payout ratio is 61.82%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on TECK shares. UBS Group cut shares of Teck Resources from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Teck Resources from $55.00 to $51.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. National Bank Financial cut Teck Resources from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Raymond James lowered their target price on shares of Teck Resources from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Six 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, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $65.38.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Teck Resources

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Synergy Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Teck Resources by 77.7% during the 4th quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC now owns 16,892 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $685,000 after purchasing an additional 7,387 shares during the period. Forest Avenue Capital Management LP boosted its stake in Teck Resources by 3.7% during the third quarter. Forest Avenue Capital Management LP now owns 720,920 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,661,000 after buying an additional 25,430 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in Teck Resources during the third quarter worth about $1,937,000. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Teck Resources by 20.9% during the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 98,145 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,132,000 after acquiring an additional 16,981 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Teck Resources by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 6,495,880 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $341,337,000 after acquiring an additional 165,759 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.