Short Interest in TC Energy Co. (NYSE:TRP) Grows By 360.9%

TC Energy Co. (NYSE:TRP) (TSE:TRP) saw a significant growth in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 34,940,000 shares, a growth of 360.9% from the February 28th total of 7,580,000 shares. Currently, 3.4% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 2,040,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 17.1 days.

TC Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE TRP traded down $0.25 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $48.02. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,683,311 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,657,056. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 1.23. TC Energy has a 52 week low of $34.95 and a 52 week high of $50.37. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $46.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $46.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.90 billion, a PE ratio of 14.82, a P/E/G ratio of 4.34 and a beta of 0.83.

TC Energy (NYSE:TRP) (TSE:TRP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 14th. The pipeline company reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.54. TC Energy had a net margin of 29.40% and a return on equity of 12.12%. The firm had revenue of $2.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.35 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that TC Energy will post 2.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

TC Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.08%. This is a boost from TC Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. TC Energy’s payout ratio is 72.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the company. Veritas upgraded shares of TC Energy from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. US Capital Advisors upgraded shares of TC Energy from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com cut TC Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. TD Securities started coverage on TC Energy in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on TC Energy from $71.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $62.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On TC Energy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of TC Energy by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 43,687,141 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,035,952,000 after acquiring an additional 734,678 shares during the last quarter. FIL Ltd lifted its position in TC Energy by 10.3% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 28,443,403 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,325,558,000 after purchasing an additional 2,644,627 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of TC Energy by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. now owns 16,437,150 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $765,627,000 after buying an additional 344,485 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its holdings in shares of TC Energy by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 14,755,330 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $686,763,000 after buying an additional 1,280,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of TC Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $428,759,000. 83.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.