Investors Purchase High Volume of Put Options on TAL Education Group (NYSE:TAL)

TAL Education Group (NYSE:TAL) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock traders purchased 11,648 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 119% compared to the typical daily volume of 5,321 put options.

TAL Education Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:TAL traded down $0.44 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $11.32. 3,765,399 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,015,199. The business’s fifty day moving average is $12.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $11.41. TAL Education Group has a one year low of $5.09 and a one year high of $15.52.

TAL Education Group (NYSE:TAL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The company reported ($0.04) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.02) by ($0.02). TAL Education Group had a negative return on equity of 1.93% and a negative net margin of 5.30%. The company had revenue of $373.51 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $330.96 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that TAL Education Group will post -0.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On TAL Education Group

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of TAL. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its stake in shares of TAL Education Group by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 153,982 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,945,000 after buying an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its stake in shares of TAL Education Group by 50.5% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,550 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 1,191 shares during the last quarter. Aviva PLC grew its stake in shares of TAL Education Group by 0.6% during the third quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 284,351 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,590,000 after buying an additional 1,600 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of TAL Education Group by 16.9% during the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 20,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $183,000 after buying an additional 2,900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi boosted its holdings in shares of TAL Education Group by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 859,738 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,695,000 after purchasing an additional 2,943 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 37.79% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TAL has been the topic of several analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of TAL Education Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. TheStreet raised shares of TAL Education Group from a “d+” rating to a “c-” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of TAL Education Group from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $10.00 to $15.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, TAL Education Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $12.37.

About TAL Education Group

TAL Education Group provides K-12 after-school tutoring services in the People's Republic of China. The company offers tutoring services to K-12 students covering various academic subjects, including mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, history, geography, political science, English, and Chinese.