TC Energy Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:TRP)

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

TC Energy Price Performance

Shares of TRP opened at $46.63 on Thursday. TC Energy has a fifty-two week low of $37.41 and a fifty-two week high of $51.99. The company has a market capitalization of $48.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.50 and a beta of 0.76. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $49.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $47.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.70.

TC Energy (NYSE:TRP) (TSE:TRP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The pipeline company reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.70 by ($0.04). TC Energy had a return on equity of 11.41% and a net margin of 29.17%. The firm had revenue of $1.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.02 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that TC Energy will post 2.63 earnings per share for the current year.

TC Energy Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.6142 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $2.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.27%. TC Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.51%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Cibc World Mkts upgraded TC Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. CIBC upgraded shares of TC Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on TC Energy in a report on Friday, April 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $62.00.

Institutional Trading of TC Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of TRP. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in TC Energy by 2,565.1% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 16,306,187 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $769,815,000 after purchasing an additional 15,694,336 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of TC Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $428,759,000. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its position in shares of TC Energy by 80.3% during the 1st quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 16,983,443 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $802,164,000 after purchasing an additional 7,562,887 shares during the last quarter. Mufg Securities Canada LTD. raised its position in shares of TC Energy by 571.7% during the 4th quarter. Mufg Securities Canada LTD. now owns 6,184,832 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $288,043,000 after purchasing an additional 5,264,079 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its position in shares of TC Energy by 34.2% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 19,808,558 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $935,627,000 after purchasing an additional 5,053,228 shares during the last quarter. 83.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

TC Energy Company Profile

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.