TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC) Shares Sold by Scotia Capital Inc.

Key Points

• Scotia Capital Inc. has reduced its stake in TransAlta Corporation by 43.6%, now owning 328,041 shares after selling 253,284 shares in the first quarter.
• TransAlta's shares have decreased by 3.4%, with a current price of $12.09, while the company reported quarterly earnings of $0.13 per share, exceeding analysts' expectations.
• The company has increased its quarterly dividend from $0.05 to $0.065 per share, reflecting a growing commitment to returning value to its shareholders.

Scotia Capital Inc. trimmed its position in TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC - Free Report) TSE: TA by 43.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 328,041 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 253,284 shares during the period. Scotia Capital Inc. owned approximately 0.11% of TransAlta worth $3,055,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bessemer Group Inc. purchased a new position in TransAlta in the 1st quarter valued at $638,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of TransAlta by 20,398.6% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 191,047 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,703,000 after purchasing an additional 190,115 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets purchased a new stake in shares of TransAlta during the 4th quarter worth $346,000. NBC Securities Inc. boosted its position in shares of TransAlta by 145,600.0% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Sowell Financial Services LLC boosted its position in shares of TransAlta by 55.3% during the 1st quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC now owns 22,533 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $211,000 after purchasing an additional 8,019 shares in the last quarter. 59.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on shares of TransAlta from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of TransAlta from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of TransAlta from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 14th. TD Securities restated a "buy" rating and set a $20.00 target price (up from $19.00) on shares of TransAlta in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, National Bankshares restated an "outperform" rating on shares of TransAlta in a research report on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $19.88.

TransAlta Price Performance

TAC stock traded up $0.08 during trading on Friday, hitting $12.10. The stock had a trading volume of 1,034,231 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,196,172. The company's 50 day moving average price is $11.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $10.24. TransAlta Corporation has a 1-year low of $7.82 and a 1-year high of $14.64. The stock has a market cap of $3.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -28.81 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.98, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.79.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC - Get Free Report) TSE: TA last announced its earnings results 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 net margin of 6.79% and a negative return on equity of 2.06%. The firm had revenue of $451.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $473.94 million. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that TransAlta Corporation will post 0.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

TransAlta Increases Dividend

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

About TransAlta

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.