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

Teck Resources Ltd (NYSE:TECK) (TSE:TECK) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock investors purchased 8,672 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 86% compared to the average volume of 4,651 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TECK has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Teck Resources in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Raymond James Financial cut Teck Resources from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Veritas raised Teck Resources from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $46.00 price objective on shares of Teck Resources in a research report on Wednesday, November 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Teck Resources from $43.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $58.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Teck Resources by 11.1% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 34,705 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,264,000 after buying an additional 3,458 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in shares of Teck Resources by 453.0% during the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 9,721 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $354,000 after purchasing an additional 7,963 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Teck Resources by 1.8% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 465,861 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $16,971,000 after purchasing an additional 8,146 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Teck Resources by 3.3% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 548,732 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $22,158,000 after purchasing an additional 17,744 shares during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in Teck Resources by 2.1% in the second quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 20,360 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $822,000 after purchasing an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. 78.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Teck Resources Stock Performance

Shares of TECK opened at $55.37 on Thursday. Teck Resources has a 12-month low of $28.32 and a 12-month high of $62.41. The stock has a market cap of $26.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.41, a PEG ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 2.54, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company has a 50-day moving average of $54.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $45.56.

Teck Resources (NYSE:TECK) (TSE:TECK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 19th. The basic materials company reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.39. Teck Resources had a net margin of 12.98% and a return on equity of 5.90%. The business had revenue of $2.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.28 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.45 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Teck Resources will post 1.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Teck Resources Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. Teck Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.82%.

About Teck Resources

Teck Resources Ltd. is a diversified natural resource company headquartered in Canada that explores for, develops and produces a portfolio of metallic and energy commodities. Its core businesses center on copper, steelmaking (metallurgical) coal and zinc, with related smelting and refining activities. Teck supplies raw materials and intermediate products to global steelmakers, metals markets and industrial customers, and operates integrated mining and processing facilities as well as earlier-stage exploration and development projects.

The company’s operations and projects are located across multiple geographies, with a significant presence in western Canada and North America and additional exploration and development activities in Latin America.