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

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

Institutional Trading of TC Energy

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in TC Energy by 2,565.1% during the 1st 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 during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in TC Energy in the second quarter valued at $493,434,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in TC Energy by 514.5% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,491,799 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $352,976,000 after acquiring an additional 5,435,310 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 5,053,228 shares during the period. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its position in shares of TC Energy by 2,573.3% in the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 2,680,572 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $130,600,000 after acquiring an additional 2,580,300 shares in the last quarter. 83.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

TC Energy Price Performance

TRP stock opened at $55.81 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $58.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.05 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $53.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $51.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.63. TC Energy has a 52-week low of $43.51 and a 52-week high of $56.08.

TC Energy (NYSE:TRP) (TSE:TRP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.56. The company had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.63 billion. TC Energy had a net margin of 23.86% and a return on equity of 10.61%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.03 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that TC Energy will post 2.63 EPS for the current year.

TC Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 31st. This is a positive change from TC Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.1%. TC Energy’s payout ratio is currently 106.47%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TRP has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of TC Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Cibc World Mkts downgraded shares of TC Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of TC Energy in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Cibc Captl Mkts upgraded TC Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, TD Securities reissued a “buy” rating on shares of TC Energy in a report on Friday, October 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.00.

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.