Teck Resources Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:TECK)

Teck Resources Limited (NYSE:TECK) (TSE:TECK) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Stock investors acquired 13,287 call options on the company. This is an increase of 64% compared to the average daily volume of 8,112 call options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Teck Resources

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TECK. Synergy Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Teck Resources by 77.7% during the fourth quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC now owns 16,892 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $685,000 after purchasing an additional 7,387 shares during the period. Forest Avenue Capital Management LP raised its position in shares of Teck Resources by 3.7% in the third quarter. Forest Avenue Capital Management LP now owns 720,920 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,661,000 after purchasing an additional 25,430 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in Teck Resources during the third quarter worth about $1,937,000. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its stake in 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 worth $5,132,000 after buying an additional 16,981 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its stake in Teck Resources by 2.6% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 6,495,880 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $341,337,000 after buying an additional 165,759 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.06% of the company’s stock.

Teck Resources Price Performance

TECK stock traded down $0.51 during trading on Friday, hitting $39.75. 2,228,388 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,907,783. Teck Resources has a one year low of $37.80 and a one year high of $55.13. The stock has a market cap of $19.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 72.24 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $45.60. 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 (NYSE:TECK) (TSE:TECK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The basic materials company reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. Equities analysts expect that Teck Resources will post 1.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Teck Resources Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.0879 dividend. This represents a $0.35 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Teck Resources’s payout ratio is presently 61.82%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TECK has been the subject of a number of research reports. National Bank Financial downgraded shares of Teck Resources from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Raymond James reduced their price target on shares of Teck Resources from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. UBS Group downgraded shares of Teck Resources from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Teck Resources from $55.00 to $51.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.38.

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.