Summit Securities Group LLC Has $280,000 Stock Position in TransAlta Corporation $TAC

Key Points

• Summit Securities Group LLC reduced its stake in TransAlta Corporation by 55% in Q1, holding a total of 30,000 shares valued at $280,000 after the sale.
• Several institutional investors significantly increased their holdings in TransAlta, with NBC Securities boosting its stake by 145,600% during the same period.
• TransAlta recently raised its quarterly dividend from $0.05 to $0.065, reflecting a 2.1% dividend yield as the company continues to adjust its financial strategies.

Summit Securities Group LLC cut its position in shares of TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC - Free Report) TSE: TA by 55.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 36,668 shares during the quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC's holdings in TransAlta were worth $280,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. NBC Securities Inc. raised its holdings in TransAlta by 145,600.0% in the 1st quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 2,914 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 2,912 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its position in shares of TransAlta by 48,666.7% during the first 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 raised its stake in shares of TransAlta by 239.2% in the first quarter. Tobam now owns 10,943 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $102,000 after purchasing an additional 7,717 shares in the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main bought a new position in TransAlta in the fourth quarter worth $167,000. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in TransAlta in the first quarter worth $119,000. 59.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

TransAlta Price Performance

TransAlta stock traded down $0.0750 on Wednesday, reaching $12.2950. The company's stock had a trading volume of 660,047 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,572,260. The business's fifty day moving average price is $11.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $10.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.98, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.79. The company has a market cap of $3.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -29.27 and a beta of 0.75. TransAlta Corporation has a twelve month low of $7.82 and a twelve month high of $14.64.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $451.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $473.94 million. TransAlta had a negative return on equity of 2.06% and a negative net margin of 6.79%. Equities analysts expect that TransAlta Corporation will post 0.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TransAlta Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on TAC shares. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on shares of TransAlta from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a 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. National Bankshares reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of TransAlta in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. TD Securities restated a "buy" rating and set a $20.00 price target (up previously from $19.00) on shares of TransAlta in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised TransAlta from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, June 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $19.88.

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.