Short Interest in TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC) Rises By 39.1%

Key Points

• Short interest in TransAlta Corporation increased by 39.1% in August, totaling 7,150,000 shares, which represents 2.4% of its total shares.
• Analyst consensus rating for TransAlta is currently a Buy with a target price of $19.88, following several upgrades from various financial institutions.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.065 per share, reflecting a yield of 2.1%, set to be paid on October 1st.

TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC - Get Free Report) TSE: TA saw a large growth in short interest in the month of August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totaling 7,150,000 shares, agrowthof39.1% from the July 31st total of 5,140,000 shares. Currently,2.4% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 1,430,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.0 days. Based on an average trading volume of 1,430,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.0 days. Currently,2.4% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TAC has been the subject of several analyst reports. National Bankshares restated an "outperform" rating on shares of TransAlta in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded TransAlta from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. 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. Scotiabank upgraded TransAlta from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $16.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded 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 issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, TransAlta presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $19.88.

TransAlta Trading Up 0.3%

TransAlta stock traded up $0.04 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $12.32. The company had a trading volume of 1,130,916 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,120,269. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.98, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.72. TransAlta has a 12-month low of $7.82 and a 12-month high of $14.64. The firm has a market cap of $3.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -29.32 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $11.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $10.41.

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

TransAlta Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 1st will be issued a $0.065 dividend. This represents a $0.26 annualized dividend 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 presently -42.86%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On TransAlta

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 1,150.1% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 904,342 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $8,456,000 after purchasing an additional 832,000 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of TransAlta during the first quarter valued at $638,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets bought a new position in TransAlta in the fourth quarter valued at about $346,000. NBC Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in TransAlta by 145,600.0% in the first 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 during the period. Finally, Sowell Financial Services LLC lifted its holdings in TransAlta by 55.3% in the first quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC now owns 22,533 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $211,000 after acquiring an additional 8,019 shares during the period. 59.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.