Investors Buy High Volume of Put Options on Teck Resources (NYSE:TECK)

Teck Resources Limited (NYSE:TECK) (TSE:TECK) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock investors bought 8,664 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 52% compared to the average volume of 5,714 put options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Teck Resources

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in TECK. FIL Ltd boosted its stake in Teck Resources by 98.8% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 11,937,233 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $504,588,000 after purchasing an additional 5,933,226 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Teck Resources during the 4th quarter valued at $172,740,000. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its stake in Teck Resources by 846.6% during the 2nd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 4,383,031 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $210,034,000 after acquiring an additional 3,919,984 shares in the last quarter. Asia Research & Capital Management Ltd acquired a new position in Teck Resources during the 1st quarter worth $158,976,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Teck Resources by 115.4% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,687,670 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $260,584,000 after purchasing an additional 3,047,570 shares in the last quarter. 78.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Teck Resources Stock Performance

TECK stock opened at $49.51 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $25.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.91, a P/E/G ratio of 10.87 and a beta of 1.05. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $49.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $44.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Teck Resources has a 12-month low of $34.38 and a 12-month high of $55.13.

Teck Resources (NYSE:TECK) (TSE:TECK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The basic materials company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by ($0.31). Teck Resources had a return on equity of 7.52% and a net margin of 10.59%. The business had revenue of $2.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.99 billion. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Teck Resources will post 2.17 EPS for the current year.

Teck Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a $0.625 dividend. This represents a $2.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.05%. This is a boost from Teck Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. Teck Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.93%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on TECK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Teck Resources from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Teck Resources from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Benchmark lifted their price target on shares of Teck Resources from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Teck Resources has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.80.

About Teck Resources

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.