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

TC Energy Corporation (NYSE:TRP) (TSE:TRP) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders acquired 16,157 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 1,446% compared to the typical volume of 1,045 put options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On TC Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TRP. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in TC Energy by 54.0% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 11,099 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $538,000 after buying an additional 3,892 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its holdings in shares of TC Energy by 46.1% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 12,446 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $588,000 after purchasing an additional 3,929 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of TC Energy by 200.7% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 26,878 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,269,000 after acquiring an additional 17,939 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in TC Energy by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 918,293 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $44,804,000 after purchasing an additional 3,052 shares during the period. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of TC Energy by 9.5% in the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 5,508 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $269,000 after acquiring an additional 476 shares in the last quarter. 83.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

TC Energy Trading Down 1.1%

TC Energy stock traded down $0.73 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $63.47. 913,166 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,429,118. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $58.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $54.80. TC Energy has a twelve month low of $43.59 and a twelve month high of $65.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $66.09 billion, a PE ratio of 27.31 and a beta of 0.72.

TC Energy (NYSE:TRP) (TSE:TRP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 13th. The pipeline company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $2.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.94 billion. TC Energy had a net margin of 23.04% and a return on equity of 10.52%. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.05 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that TC Energy will post 2.63 earnings per share for the current year.

TC Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be given a $0.8775 dividend. This is an increase from TC Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.51 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. TC Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 106.90%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TRP has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of TC Energy in a research note on Monday, February 16th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of TC Energy in a report on Friday, February 20th. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of TC Energy in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of TC Energy in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Raymond James Financial upgraded TC Energy to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $72.50.

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.