TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC) Increases Dividend to $0.07 Per Share

Key Points

• TransAlta Corporation declared a quarterly dividend of $0.07 per share, representing a 42% increase from its previous dividend of $0.05.
• The company has a high dividend payout ratio of 111.8%, indicating it relies on its balance sheet to cover dividend payments rather than earnings alone.
• TransAlta's stock has recently been upgraded by analysts, with target prices ranging from $19.83 to $20.00, reflecting a generally positive outlook for the stock.

TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC - Get Free Report) TSE: TA declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, July 29th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Monday, September 1st will be paid a dividend of 0.065 per share by the utilities provider on Wednesday, October 1st. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. This is a 42.0% increase from TransAlta's previous quarterly dividend of $0.05.

TransAlta has a dividend payout ratio of 111.8% meaning the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Equities analysts expect TransAlta to earn $0.44 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.19 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 43.2%.

TransAlta Stock Performance

TransAlta stock opened at $12.40 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.19. The stock has a market cap of $3.68 billion, a PE ratio of -29.52 and a beta of 0.75. The business's 50-day moving average price is $11.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $10.30. TransAlta has a 12-month low of $7.40 and a 12-month high of $14.64.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC - Get Free Report) TSE: TA last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.13 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 analyst estimates of $473.94 million. TransAlta had a negative return on equity of 1.95% and a negative net margin of 6.79%. As a group, analysts expect that TransAlta will post 0.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On TransAlta

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in shares of TransAlta by 199.1% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 16,462,892 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $153,813,000 after buying an additional 10,957,858 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of TransAlta by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,291,968 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $96,055,000 after buying an additional 62,145 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its stake in shares of TransAlta by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 9,290,110 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $131,222,000 after purchasing an additional 716,139 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of TransAlta by 79.7% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,255,923 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $116,764,000 after purchasing an additional 3,662,900 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in shares of TransAlta by 280.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 5,385,966 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $76,211,000 after purchasing an additional 3,969,037 shares during the period. 59.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.