Ardsley Advisory Partners LP Sells 545,000 Shares of TransAlta Corporation $TAC

Key Points

• Ardsley Advisory Partners LP has significantly reduced its stake in TransAlta Corporation by selling 545,000 shares, representing an 80.7% decrease, now holding only 130,000 shares valued at approximately $1,213,000.
• TransAlta recently reported earnings of $0.13 per share, surpassing expectations, and announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.065 per share, resulting in a 2.1% dividend yield.
• Analysts have a consensus rating of "Buy" for TransAlta, with several institutions increasing their stakes, indicating positive growth prospects within a market cap of $3.59 billion.

Ardsley Advisory Partners LP lowered its stake in TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC - Free Report) TSE: TA by 80.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 130,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 545,000 shares during the period. Ardsley Advisory Partners LP's holdings in TransAlta were worth $1,213,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. NBC Securities Inc. boosted its stake in TransAlta by 145,600.0% during the 1st quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 2,914 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 2,912 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its stake in TransAlta by 48,666.7% during the 1st quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 4,389 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 4,380 shares during the period. Tobam boosted its stake in TransAlta by 239.2% during the 1st quarter. Tobam now owns 10,943 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $102,000 after purchasing an additional 7,717 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new stake in TransAlta during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $119,000. Finally, State of Wyoming bought a new stake in TransAlta during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $146,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 59.00% of the company's stock.

TransAlta Price Performance

TAC stock traded down $0.02 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $12.27. 162,142 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,530,438. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $11.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $10.40. TransAlta Corporation has a 1-year low of $7.82 and a 1-year high of $14.64. The company has a market cap of $3.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -29.20 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.98.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC - Get Free Report) TSE: TA last released its earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.06. TransAlta had a negative return on equity of 2.06% and a negative net margin of 6.79%.The company had revenue of $451.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $473.94 million. On average, analysts anticipate that TransAlta Corporation will post 0.41 earnings per share for the current year.

TransAlta Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 1st will be issued a $0.065 dividend. This represents a $0.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. This is a positive change from TransAlta's previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. TransAlta's dividend payout ratio is presently -45.24%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TAC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Scotiabank raised TransAlta from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and upped their price target for the company from $16.00 to $20.00 in a report on Friday, July 18th. Wall Street Zen raised TransAlta from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, June 14th. National Bankshares reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of TransAlta in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. TD Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $20.00 price target (up previously from $19.00) on shares of TransAlta in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised TransAlta from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $19.88.

TransAlta Company Profile

TransAlta Corporation engages in the development, production, and sale of electric energy. It operates through Hydro, Wind and Solar, Gas, Energy Transition, and Energy Marketing segments. The Hydro segment holds interest of approximately 922 megawatts (MW) of owned hydroelectric generating capacity located in Alberta, British Columbia, and Ontario.