TC Energy Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:TRP)

TC Energy Co. (NYSE:TRP - Get Free Report) TSE: TRP was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors acquired 16,157 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 1,446% compared to the average daily volume of 1,045 put options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On TC Energy

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its position in shares of TC Energy by 1.3% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 18,316 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $871,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in TC Energy by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 8,515,086 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $322,584,000 after buying an additional 214,689 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. raised its position in shares of TC Energy by 107.7% during the third quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. now owns 226,007 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $10,743,000 after buying an additional 117,176 shares during the last quarter. Partners Group Holding AG lifted its holdings in shares of TC Energy by 25.8% in the third quarter. Partners Group Holding AG now owns 845,335 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $40,196,000 after buying an additional 173,250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of TC Energy by 2,821.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 574,427 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $27,311,000 after acquiring an additional 554,767 shares during the last quarter. 83.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TRP has been the topic of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on TC Energy from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on TC Energy from $66.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of TC Energy in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of TC Energy from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of TC Energy from an "underweight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, TC Energy has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $55.67.

TC Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:TRP traded down $0.52 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $46.78. 2,191,974 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,037,107. The company's 50 day moving average price is $47.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $44.11. The firm has a market cap of $48.56 billion, a PE ratio of 13.10, a PEG ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.82. TC Energy has a 52 week low of $31.83 and a 52 week high of $50.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78, a current ratio of 1.31 and a quick ratio of 1.23.

TC Energy (NYSE:TRP - Get Free Report) TSE: TRP last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The pipeline company reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.83 billion. TC Energy had a net margin of 31.15% and a return on equity of 12.92%. On average, equities analysts expect that TC Energy will post 3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

TC Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.822 dividend. This represents a $3.29 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a positive change from TC Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. TC Energy's dividend payout ratio is presently 67.31%.

About TC Energy

TC Energy Corporation operates as an energy infrastructure company in North America. It operates through five segments: Canadian Natural Gas Pipelines; U.S. Natural Gas Pipelines; Mexico Natural Gas Pipelines; Liquids Pipelines; and Power and Energy Solutions. The company builds and operates a network of 93,600 kilometers of natural gas pipelines, which transports natural gas from supply basins to local distribution companies, power generation plants, industrial facilities, interconnecting pipelines, LNG export terminals, and other businesses.