Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Teck Resources Call Options (NYSE:TECK)

Teck Resources Limited (NYSE:TECK) (TSE:TECK) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Stock traders bought 13,287 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 64% compared to the typical volume of 8,112 call options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TECK. Employees Retirement System of Texas bought a new position in shares of Teck Resources during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $230,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Teck Resources during the fourth quarter worth $50,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its position in Teck Resources by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 5,882,543 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $238,245,000 after acquiring an additional 404,095 shares in the last quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Teck Resources by 14.6% in the 4th quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 5,942 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $241,000 after acquiring an additional 757 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowpoint Investment Partners Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Teck Resources in the 4th quarter valued at $335,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.06% of the company’s stock.

Teck Resources Stock Performance

Teck Resources stock opened at $40.33 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 2.92. The company has a market capitalization of $20.11 billion, a PE ratio of 73.32 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $41.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $45.60. Teck Resources has a fifty-two week low of $37.80 and a fifty-two week high of $55.13.

Teck Resources (NYSE:TECK) (TSE:TECK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The basic materials company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.07. Teck Resources had a return on equity of 4.59% and a net margin of 2.96%. The business had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Teck Resources will post 1.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Teck Resources Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.0879 dividend. This represents a $0.35 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Teck Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.82%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Teck Resources Company Profile

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.