Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Trims Stock Position in TransAlta Corporation $TAC

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. cut its stake in shares of TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) by 2.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 842,489 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 23,981 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 0.28% of TransAlta worth $7,862,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TAC. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in TransAlta by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 126,761 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,811,000 after acquiring an additional 4,140 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of TransAlta by 52.1% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 37,597 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $532,000 after buying an additional 12,871 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of TransAlta during the 4th quarter worth approximately $822,000. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of TransAlta by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 147,703 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,090,000 after buying an additional 4,641 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its stake in shares of TransAlta by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 73,942 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,041,000 after buying an additional 5,168 shares in the last quarter. 59.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

TransAlta Price Performance

TAC stock opened at $12.1550 on Tuesday. TransAlta Corporation has a 52-week low of $7.82 and a 52-week high of $14.64. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $11.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $10.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -28.94 and a beta of 0.75.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.06. TransAlta had a negative return on equity of 2.06% and a negative net margin of 6.79%.The business had revenue of $451.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $473.94 million. Equities research analysts expect that TransAlta Corporation will post 0.41 EPS for the current year.

TransAlta Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.065 per share. This represents a $0.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. This is a positive change from TransAlta’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. TransAlta’s payout ratio is -45.24%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on TAC. Scotiabank raised TransAlta from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $16.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on TransAlta from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. TD Securities reissued a “buy” rating and set a $20.00 target price (up from $19.00) on shares of TransAlta in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. National Bankshares reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of TransAlta in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised TransAlta from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $19.88.

TransAlta 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.