Traders Buy Large Volume of Put Options on TC Energy (NYSE:TRP)

TC Energy Corporation (NYSE:TRP) (TSE:TRP) saw some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders acquired 16,157 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 1,446% compared to the typical daily volume of 1,045 put options.

Institutional Trading of TC Energy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of TRP. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in TC Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in TC Energy during the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Trust Co. of Vermont bought a new stake in TC Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in TC Energy by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 594 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 297 shares in the last quarter. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC bought a new stake in TC Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Institutional investors own 83.13% of the company’s stock.

TC Energy Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of NYSE TRP opened at $64.01 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $66.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.54 and a beta of 0.69. TC Energy has a 52-week low of $46.29 and a 52-week high of $65.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.63. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $63.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $57.69.

TC Energy (NYSE:TRP) (TSE:TRP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 13th. The pipeline company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $2.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.94 billion. TC Energy had a net margin of 23.04% and a return on equity of 10.52%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.05 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that TC Energy will post 2.78 earnings per share for the current year.

TC Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be paid a $0.8775 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $3.51 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.5%. This is an increase from TC Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. TC Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 108.62%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on TRP shares. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating on shares of TC Energy in a research note on Friday, February 20th. TD Securities downgraded shares of TC Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of TC Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 14th. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of TC Energy in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, National Bank Financial downgraded shares of TC Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $77.00.

About TC Energy

TC Energy (NYSE: TRP) is a North American energy infrastructure company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta. Formerly known as TransCanada, the company rebranded as TC Energy to reflect its broad presence across Canada, the United States and Mexico. TC Energy develops, owns and operates a diversified portfolio of energy infrastructure assets that play a central role in the transportation and delivery of energy across the continent.

The company’s principal businesses include long‑distance natural gas transmission, liquids (crude oil) pipelines, natural gas storage and power generation.