Vanguard Group Inc. Grows Position in TransAlta Corporation $TAC

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. has increased its stake in TransAlta Corporation by 0.6%, now owning approximately 3.45% of the company, which is valued at around $96 million.
• TransAlta recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.065 per share, raising it from the previous $0.05, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 2.1%.
• Despite a slight decrease in share price of 1.6%, analysts maintain a consensus rating of "Buy" for TransAlta, with an average price target of $19.88.

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC - Free Report) TSE: TA by 0.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,291,968 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 62,145 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 3.45% of TransAlta worth $96,055,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in TAC. NBC Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 2,912 shares during the period. Tobam lifted its stake in shares of TransAlta by 239.2% in the 1st quarter. Tobam now owns 10,943 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $102,000 after purchasing an additional 7,717 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of TransAlta by 64.9% in the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 17,525 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $164,000 after purchasing an additional 6,900 shares during the period. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main acquired a new position in shares of TransAlta in the 4th quarter valued at $167,000. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP acquired a new position in shares of TransAlta in the 4th quarter valued at $195,000. 59.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on TAC. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of TransAlta from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. TD Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $20.00 target price (up from $19.00) on shares of TransAlta in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. National Bankshares restated an "outperform" rating on shares of TransAlta in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of TransAlta from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $16.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of TransAlta from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report 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 assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, TransAlta presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $19.88.

TransAlta Price Performance

NYSE:TAC traded up $0.56 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $12.63. 704,671 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,226,941. TransAlta Corporation has a twelve month low of $7.82 and a twelve month high of $14.64. The firm has a market cap of $3.74 billion, a PE ratio of -30.06 and a beta of 0.75. The stock's 50-day moving average is $11.78 and its 200-day moving average is $10.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.98.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC - Get Free Report) TSE: TA last released its earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $451.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $473.94 million. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that TransAlta Corporation will post 0.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TransAlta Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. 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. This represents a $0.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. TransAlta's payout ratio is currently -45.24%.

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.