Swiss National Bank Raises Stock Holdings in TransAlta Corporation $TAC

Key Points

• The Swiss National Bank increased its stake in TransAlta Corporation by 10.3%, acquiring 51,500 additional shares for a total of 552,600 shares, valued at approximately $5.16 million.
• TransAlta announced a quarterly dividend increase from $0.05 to $0.065, translating to a 2.1% yield, with significant institutional investor interest in the company.
• Analysts are optimistic about TransAlta's stock, with a consensus target price of $19.88, and recent upgrades from ratings agencies, including TD Securities raising the target price from $19.00 to $20.00.

Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC - Free Report) TSE: TA by 10.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 552,600 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 51,500 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.19% of TransAlta worth $5,161,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. NBC Securities Inc. lifted its position in shares of TransAlta by 145,600.0% during the first quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 2,914 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 2,912 shares during the last quarter. Tobam raised its position in TransAlta by 239.2% during the 1st quarter. Tobam now owns 10,943 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $102,000 after buying an additional 7,717 shares during the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main purchased a new position in TransAlta during the 4th quarter worth approximately $167,000. Two Sigma Investments LP acquired a new stake in shares of TransAlta during the 4th quarter worth approximately $195,000. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC grew its stake in shares of TransAlta by 64.9% during the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 17,525 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $164,000 after purchasing an additional 6,900 shares during the period. 59.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

TransAlta Stock Down 0.6%

TAC 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 1,267,918. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $11.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $10.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.98. The company has a market capitalization of $3.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -29.27 and a beta of 0.75. TransAlta Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $7.82 and a fifty-two week high of $14.64.

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

TransAlta Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Investors 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 yield of 2.1%. This is a positive change from TransAlta's previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. TransAlta's dividend payout ratio is currently -45.24%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. TD Securities restated a "buy" rating and issued a $20.00 price objective (up previously from $19.00) on shares of TransAlta in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Wall Street Zen upgraded TransAlta from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, June 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on TransAlta from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 8th. National Bankshares restated an "outperform" rating on shares of TransAlta in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded TransAlta from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $16.00 to $20.00 in a report on Friday, July 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, TransAlta has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price 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.