Short Interest in TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC) Decreases By 41.8%

Key Points

• TransAlta Corporation's short interest dropped by 41.8% in July, with 5,140,000 shares short sold, indicating a decreased bearish sentiment from earlier in the month.
• Institutional investors now hold 59% of TransAlta's stock, with substantial increases in holdings by several firms, notably NBC Securities and Caitong International Asset Management, showing rising confidence in the company.
• The company has announced an increased quarterly dividend of $0.065 per share, representing a 2.1% yield, reflecting a positive approach towards shareholder returns despite a negative earnings report.

TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC - Get Free Report) TSE: TA saw a large drop in short interest in July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totaling 5,140,000 shares, adropof41.8% from the July 15th total of 8,830,000 shares. Currently,1.7% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,410,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.6 days. Based on an average daily volume of 1,410,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.6 days. Currently,1.7% of the company's stock are short sold.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in TransAlta by 199.1% during the first 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 period. Rubric Capital Management LP increased its position in TransAlta by 32.9% during the second quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 15,948,451 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $172,084,000 after buying an additional 3,948,451 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in TransAlta by 0.6% during the first 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 period. Oaktree Capital Management LP increased its position in TransAlta by 9.0% during the second quarter. Oaktree Capital Management LP now owns 6,085,253 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $65,513,000 after buying an additional 500,000 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in TransAlta by 280.1% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 5,385,966 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $76,211,000 after buying an additional 3,969,037 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 59.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on TAC. Wall Street Zen raised TransAlta from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 14th. TD Securities reissued a "buy" rating and set a $20.00 target price (up previously from $19.00) on shares of TransAlta in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on TransAlta from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Scotiabank raised 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 report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised TransAlta from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. One investment 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $19.88.

TransAlta Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of NYSE TAC traded down $0.1910 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $12.1190. 2,753,944 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,237,359. 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 twelve month low of $7.82 and a twelve month high of $14.64. The company has a market cap of $3.59 billion, a PE ratio of -28.85 and a beta of 0.75. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $11.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $10.29.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC - Get Free Report) TSE: TA last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.06. The company 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 2.06% and a negative net margin of 6.79%. Research analysts predict that TransAlta will post 0.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

TransAlta Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 1st will be given a dividend of $0.065 per share. 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 -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.