Franklin Resources Inc. Lowers Stake in TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC)

Franklin Resources Inc. trimmed its position in TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC - Free Report) TSE: TA by 33.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 98,041 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 49,628 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.'s holdings in TransAlta were worth $1,385,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Signaturefd LLC raised its position in shares of TransAlta by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 27,627 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $391,000 after buying an additional 1,420 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 122,621 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,277,000 after acquiring an additional 2,524 shares in the last quarter. Tobam bought a new position in shares of TransAlta in the fourth quarter worth approximately $46,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in TransAlta by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 79,957 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,131,000 after purchasing an additional 5,593 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd grew its stake in TransAlta by 27.4% in the 3rd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 29,672 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $307,000 after buying an additional 6,385 shares in the last quarter. 59.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

TransAlta Trading Up 0.5 %

TAC stock traded up $0.04 on Friday, reaching $8.71. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,025,465 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,145,432. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.94, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.74. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $11.05. The firm has a market cap of $2.60 billion, a PE ratio of 21.25 and a beta of 0.72. TransAlta Co. has a 12-month low of $6.36 and a 12-month high of $14.64.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC - Get Free Report) TSE: TA last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported ($0.16) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.12 by ($0.28). TransAlta had a net margin of 6.38% and a return on equity of 18.47%. The company had revenue of $484.60 million for the quarter. As a group, research analysts forecast that TransAlta Co. will post 0.41 EPS for the current year.

TransAlta Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Sunday, June 1st will be given a $0.0458 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.10%. This is a positive change from TransAlta's previous quarterly dividend of $0.04. TransAlta's dividend payout ratio is currently 43.90%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on TAC shares. CIBC raised shares of TransAlta from a "neutral" rating to an "outperformer" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $23.00 to $19.50 in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Scotiabank cut TransAlta from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of TransAlta in a report on Friday, April 11th. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. Cibc World Mkts raised shares of TransAlta from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, StockNews.com cut TransAlta from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $19.50.

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.