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

Key Points

• Teck Resources recently experienced a significant increase in put options trading, with 9,792 put options bought, marking a 72% rise over the average daily volume.
• The company's stock has received mixed analyst ratings, with a recent downgrade from CIBC to "neutral," while Stifel raised its rating to "hold."
• Teck Resources has announced a dividend increase to $0.0918 per share, reflecting a commitment to return value to shareholders amidst fluctuating stock performance.

Teck Resources Ltd (NYSE:TECK - Get Free Report) TSE: TECK was the target of some unusual options trading on Monday. Stock traders acquired 9,792 put options on the stock. Thisrepresentsanincreaseofapproximately72% compared to the average volume of 5,692 put options.

Institutional Trading of Teck Resources

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of TECK. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Teck Resources by 69.2% during the first quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 856 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares during the period. Costello Asset Management INC bought a new stake in shares of Teck Resources in the first quarter valued at $33,000. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise bought a new stake in shares of Teck Resources in the first quarter valued at $36,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Teck Resources by 7,560.0% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,149 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 1,134 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Teck Resources in the second quarter valued at $49,000. 78.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Desjardins cut Teck Resources from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Teck Resources in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Cibc World Mkts lowered Teck Resources from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Benchmark decreased their price objective on Teck Resources from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Teck Resources from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $60.11.

Teck Resources Trading Up 1.2%

NYSE TECK traded up $0.37 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $32.50. 5,335,429 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,819,449. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $38.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.44. Teck Resources has a 1-year low of $28.32 and a 1-year high of $54.13. The firm has a market cap of $15.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 85.53, a PEG ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a current ratio of 3.47, a quick ratio of 2.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Teck Resources (NYSE:TECK - Get Free Report) TSE: TECK last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The basic materials company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.07. Teck Resources had a return on equity of 3.91% and a net margin of 2.51%. The company had revenue of $1.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.79 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Teck Resources will post 1.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Teck Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.0918 per share. This represents a $0.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. This is an increase from Teck Resources's previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. Teck Resources's dividend payout ratio is 94.74%.

Teck Resources Company Profile

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.