NEW YORK (Reuters) - TECO Energy shares hit a six-month high in Thursday trading after the company said it is "exploring strategic alternatives."TECO published a statement after news that it was putting itself up for sale was reported by industry news website SparkSpread.TECO's shares jumped as much as 18.5 percent in afternoon trading to $22.02, matching its year high set in late January. The stock hasn't traded above that price since 2002.Its shares closed up 15.6 percent at $21.48 in more than 10 times the average volume of the past 10 days."No assurance can be given that the company will determine to pursue a potential sale or enter into any definitive sale agreement," it said in its statement.Morgan Stanley is advising TECO, the utility holding company said.TECO said it will not comment further, citing the "preliminary nature" of its move.Trading in TECO Energy's options surged to 7,600 contracts, more than seventy times what is normal during a single day, according to Trade Alert data.Calls betting on the shares rising above $20 by Aug. 21 were the busiest, with volume of 4,063 contracts traded. Trading in these calls picked up at around 2:27 p.m. ET, with about 1,000 contracts swept up within a minute for 10 to 15 cents. The calls last traded at $1.83 on Thursday, according to Thomson Reuters data. (Reporting by Rodrigo Campos, Saqib Ahmed and Caroline Valetkevitch; Editing by Phil Berlowitz)
