Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Sells 23,981 Shares of TransAlta Corporation $TAC

Key Points

• Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. reduced its stake in TransAlta Corporation by 2.8% in Q1, owning approximately 842,489 shares valued at $7.86 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• TransAlta recently increased its quarterly dividend to $0.065 per share, representing a dividend yield of 2.1% and a positive change from its previous quarter's dividend of $0.05.
• Analysts have set a consensus price target of $19.88 for TransAlta, with several brokerages upgrading the stock's rating in recent reports.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. trimmed its position in TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC - Free Report) TSE: TA by 2.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 842,489 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 23,981 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 0.28% of TransAlta worth $7,862,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. NBC Securities Inc. increased its position in TransAlta by 145,600.0% in the first quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 2,914 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 2,912 shares during the period. Vident Advisory LLC increased its position in TransAlta by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 69,004 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $976,000 after purchasing an additional 3,499 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in TransAlta by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 126,761 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,811,000 after purchasing an additional 4,140 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of TransAlta by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 147,703 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,090,000 after buying an additional 4,641 shares during the period. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its position in shares of TransAlta by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 73,942 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,041,000 after buying an additional 5,168 shares during the period. 59.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

TransAlta Stock Down 2.5%

Shares of NYSE:TAC traded down $0.32 during trading on Friday, hitting $12.30. 2,151,968 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,214,774. TransAlta Corporation has a 52 week low of $7.82 and a 52 week high of $14.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.98. The company has a market cap of $3.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -29.27 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $11.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $10.34.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC - Get Free Report) TSE: TA last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.13 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $451.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $473.94 million. As a group, research analysts forecast that TransAlta Corporation will post 0.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

TransAlta Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.065 per share. This is a boost from TransAlta's previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $0.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. TransAlta's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -45.24%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. National Bankshares restated an "outperform" rating on shares of TransAlta in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Wall Street Zen upgraded TransAlta from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 14th. Scotiabank upgraded TransAlta from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $16.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded TransAlta from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on TransAlta from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, TransAlta currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target 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.