State of Tennessee Department of Treasury Sells 122,539 Shares of TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC)

State of Tennessee Department of Treasury lowered its stake in TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC - Free Report) TSE: TA by 87.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 18,164 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 122,539 shares during the period. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury's holdings in TransAlta were worth $257,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in TAC. Ballentine Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of TransAlta in the 4th quarter worth approximately $145,000. 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 worth $1,277,000 after buying an additional 2,524 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 20,398.6% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 191,047 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,703,000 after buying an additional 190,115 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 79,957 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,131,000 after buying an additional 5,593 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP acquired a new position in shares of TransAlta in the 4th quarter worth approximately $7,139,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 59.00% of the company's stock.

TransAlta Trading Up 1.9%

TAC traded up $0.16 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $8.67. The stock had a trading volume of 1,323,619 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,147,380. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.15 and a beta of 0.71. 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 firm's fifty day simple moving average is $9.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $10.89. TransAlta Co. has a 52 week low of $6.78 and a 52 week high of $14.64.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC - Get Free Report) TSE: TA last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.07 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.09 by ($0.02). TransAlta had a net margin of 6.38% and a return on equity of 18.47%. The firm had revenue of $526.69 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $509.31 million. On average, equities analysts predict that TransAlta Co. will post 0.41 EPS for the current year.

TransAlta Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. This is a positive change from TransAlta's previous quarterly dividend of $0.04. This represents a $0.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. TransAlta's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -900.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Cibc World Mkts upgraded TransAlta from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on TransAlta from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Scotiabank lowered TransAlta from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. CIBC upgraded TransAlta from a "neutral" rating to an "outperformer" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $23.00 to $19.50 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on TransAlta in a research report on Friday, April 11th. They set a "hold" rating on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $19.75.

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.