TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC) Short Interest Down 19.1% in October

TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,380,000 shares, a decrease of 19.1% from the September 30th total of 4,180,000 shares. Approximately 1.1% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 756,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.5 days.

TransAlta Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of TransAlta stock opened at $10.09 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.68 and a beta of 0.92. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $9.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $8.09. TransAlta has a 52-week low of $5.94 and a 52-week high of $10.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.43, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.75.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.08. TransAlta had a net margin of 18.41% and a return on equity of 47.71%. The firm had revenue of $425.37 million during the quarter. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.17 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that TransAlta will post 0.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TransAlta Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Investors of record on Sunday, December 1st will be issued a $0.044 dividend. This represents a $0.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.75%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. TransAlta’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.26%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On TransAlta

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of TransAlta by 25.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,498,451 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $87,242,000 after acquiring an additional 2,116,907 shares in the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. bought a new stake in TransAlta during the first quarter worth approximately $3,779,000. Clayton Partners LLC grew its holdings in TransAlta by 2,293.5% during the second quarter. Clayton Partners LLC now owns 458,155 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,244,000 after purchasing an additional 439,013 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new position in shares of TransAlta in the first quarter valued at approximately $2,246,000. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in shares of TransAlta by 9.0% in the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 3,618,296 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,267,000 after buying an additional 299,594 shares during the last quarter. 59.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on TAC shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of TransAlta from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Desjardins initiated coverage on TransAlta in a report on Wednesday. They set a “buy” rating for the company.

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.