Teck Resources Limited (NYSE:TECK) Short Interest Down 43.0% in March

Teck Resources Limited (NYSE:TECK - Get Free Report) TSE: TECK saw a significant decline in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,760,000 shares, a decline of 43.0% from the February 29th total of 8,350,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,620,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.3 days. Currently, 0.9% of the company's shares are sold short.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Teck Resources during the fourth quarter worth approximately $291,283,000. FIL Ltd raised its stake in shares of Teck Resources by 98.8% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in shares of Teck Resources by 1,833.3% during the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 3,234,380 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $136,167,000 after purchasing an additional 3,067,080 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Teck Resources by 16,855.2% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,640,100 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $112,143,000 after purchasing an additional 2,624,529 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners grew its holdings in Teck Resources by 28.8% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 10,881,781 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $484,995,000 after acquiring an additional 2,432,378 shares during the period. 78.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Teck Resources in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Teck Resources in a research report on Monday, December 11th. They set a "hold" rating for the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Teck Resources from $45.00 to $44.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Teck Resources in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. They set a "buy" rating for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $63.96.

Teck Resources Stock Up 4.2 %

Shares of NYSE:TECK traded up $1.86 during trading on Thursday, hitting $45.78. 6,221,015 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,792,912. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.35, a PEG ratio of 5.19 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 0.60. Teck Resources has a 12-month low of $34.38 and a 12-month high of $49.34. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $40.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $39.55.

Teck Resources (NYSE:TECK - Get Free Report) TSE: TECK last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.01. Teck Resources had a net margin of 16.21% and a return on equity of 9.67%. The company had revenue of $3.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.11 billion. On average, research analysts predict that Teck Resources will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Teck Resources Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be issued a $0.0925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. Teck Resources's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.79%.

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.