Bank of America Corp DE Buys New Shares in TransAlta Corporation $TAC

Key Points

• Bank of America acquired 8.93 million TransAlta shares in the second quarter, valued at approximately $123.4 million, giving it a 2.82% ownership stake. Institutional investors collectively own about 59% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive, with TransAlta holding a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $24.50, despite ratings ranging from “Strong Buy” to “Sell.”
• TransAlta exceeded quarterly EPS expectations, reporting $0.13 versus the $0.11 consensus estimate, while revenue of $342.85 million fell short of forecasts. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.07 per share, representing a 2.3% yield.

Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in shares of TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC - Free Report) TSE: TA in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 8,925,097 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $123,434,000. Bank of America Corp DE owned 2.82% of TransAlta as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in TransAlta by 37.1% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 812 shares in the last quarter. Sage Rhino Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of TransAlta by 8.7% in the first quarter. Sage Rhino Capital LLC now owns 11,078 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $145,000 after purchasing an additional 882 shares in the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of TransAlta by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 16,568 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $209,000 after purchasing an additional 1,566 shares in the last quarter. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd bought a new stake in shares of TransAlta during the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, State of Wyoming lifted its stake in shares of TransAlta by 33.7% during the 4th quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 27,057 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $342,000 after buying an additional 6,821 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings cut TransAlta from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th. Zacks Research upgraded TransAlta from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of TransAlta in a report on Friday, July 17th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of TransAlta to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of TransAlta in a report on Monday, August 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $24.50.

TransAlta Price Performance

TransAlta stock opened at $12.23 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.64, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market cap of $3.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -67.95 and a beta of 0.70. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $12.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $13.00. TransAlta Corporation has a 1 year low of $11.38 and a 1 year high of $17.88.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC - Get Free Report) TSE: TA last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.02. TransAlta had a negative net margin of 2.76% and a positive return on equity of 8.85%. The business had revenue of $342.85 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $379.54 million. On average, research analysts forecast that TransAlta Corporation will post 0.21 earnings per share for the current year.

TransAlta Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.07 per share. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. TransAlta's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -111.11%.

About TransAlta

TransAlta Corporation is a Canada-based power generation and wholesale marketing company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta. The company develops, owns and operates electricity-generating facilities and provides power to utilities, commercial and industrial customers, and wholesale markets.

TransAlta's generation portfolio includes hydroelectric, natural gas, wind, solar and battery storage facilities. The company has also historically operated coal-fired power plants and has been transitioning its generation fleet toward lower-emission sources, including renewable energy and natural gas.

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