American Century Companies Inc. Reduces Holdings in TransAlta Corporation $TAC

American Century Companies Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) by 41.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,056,347 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,156,509 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 1.03% of TransAlta worth $32,971,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of TAC. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its stake in shares of TransAlta by 48,666.7% during the 1st quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 4,389 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 4,380 shares in the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new stake in TransAlta during the 1st quarter valued at $119,000. Savant Capital LLC purchased a new position in TransAlta during the second quarter worth $127,000. Ballentine Partners LLC purchased a new position in TransAlta during the second quarter worth $134,000. Finally, Fox Run Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in shares of TransAlta in the second quarter worth $140,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.00% of the company’s stock.

TransAlta Trading Up 3.5%

Shares of TAC stock opened at $14.55 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $15.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $12.80. 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 Corporation has a 1-year low of $7.82 and a 1-year high of $17.88. The firm has a market cap of $4.32 billion, a P/E ratio of -34.64 and a beta of 0.80.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.06 by ($0.07). TransAlta had a negative net margin of 6.79% and a negative return on equity of 2.06%. The company had revenue of $441.57 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $558.84 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that TransAlta Corporation will post 0.41 EPS for the current year.

TransAlta Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.065 per share. This represents a $0.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 1st. TransAlta’s dividend payout ratio is presently -37.50%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on TAC. Zacks Research lowered TransAlta from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. CIBC restated an “outperform” rating on shares of TransAlta in a report on Monday, October 20th. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of TransAlta in a research note on Monday, October 6th. National Bankshares reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of TransAlta in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, TD Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $20.00 price objective (up previously from $19.00) on shares of TransAlta in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $19.88.

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.