BROOKFIELD Corp ON Sells 8,592,906 Shares of TransAlta Corporation $TAC

Key Points

• BROOKFIELD Corp ON has decreased its stake in TransAlta Corporation by 24.2%, owning approximately 26.9 million shares, making it the 9th largest holding in its portfolio.
• TransAlta recently announced an increase in its quarterly dividend from $0.05 to $0.065 per share, reflecting an annualized yield of 2.1%.
• Analysts are generally optimistic about TransAlta, with a consensus rating of "Buy" and a targeted share price increase to $20.00.

BROOKFIELD Corp ON lowered its holdings in TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC - Free Report) TSE: TA by 24.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,930,439 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 8,592,906 shares during the period. TransAlta makes up 1.4% of BROOKFIELD Corp ON's portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. BROOKFIELD Corp ON owned about 9.08% of TransAlta worth $251,800,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of TAC. NBC Securities Inc. lifted its stake in TransAlta by 145,600.0% in the 1st quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 2,914 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 2,912 shares in the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 69,004 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $976,000 after purchasing an additional 3,499 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its position in shares of TransAlta by 48,666.7% in the first quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 4,389 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 4,380 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 64.9% during the first 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. Finally, Tobam boosted its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 239.2% during the first quarter. Tobam now owns 10,943 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $102,000 after purchasing an additional 7,717 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.00% of the company's stock.

TransAlta Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of NYSE:TAC traded up $0.23 on Wednesday, reaching $13.16. The company had a trading volume of 205,133 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,507,462. TransAlta Corporation has a twelve month low of $7.82 and a twelve month high of $14.64. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $12.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $10.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.90 billion, a P/E ratio of -31.32 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.98.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC - Get Free Report) TSE: TA last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $473.94 million. On average, equities analysts expect that TransAlta Corporation will post 0.41 EPS for the current year.

TransAlta Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 1st will be given a $0.065 dividend. 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 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. TransAlta's payout ratio is -45.24%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TAC has been the topic of several research reports. National Bankshares reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of TransAlta in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of TransAlta from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. Scotiabank upgraded TransAlta from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $16.00 to $20.00 in a report on Friday, July 18th. TD Securities restated a "buy" rating and issued a $20.00 target price (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 research note on Saturday, June 14th. One equities 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, TransAlta has an average 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.