TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC) Short Interest Update

TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest during 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. Based on an average trading volume of 756,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.5 days. Currently, 1.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

TransAlta Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of TAC opened at $10.16 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.07 billion, a PE ratio of 6.55 and a beta of 0.92. The company’s fifty day moving average is $9.65 and its 200 day moving average is $8.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.43, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.84. TransAlta has a fifty-two week low of $5.94 and a fifty-two week high of $10.73.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.17 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that TransAlta will post 0.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TransAlta Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Investors of record on Sunday, December 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.044 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.73%. TransAlta’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded shares of TransAlta from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th.

Institutional Trading of TransAlta

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of TransAlta by 1,381.5% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,237 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 3,951 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in TransAlta in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Financial Management Professionals Inc. bought a new position in TransAlta in the 3rd quarter worth about $42,000. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new position in shares of TransAlta during the second quarter worth approximately $64,000. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new stake in shares of TransAlta during the first quarter valued at approximately $66,000. 59.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.