Royal Bank of Canada Sells 114,506 Shares of TransAlta Corporation $TAC

Royal Bank of Canada lessened its position in shares of TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) by 0.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 25,307,692 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 114,506 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned 8.50% of TransAlta worth $331,530,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of TransAlta by 493.5% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 100,317 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,371,000 after purchasing an additional 83,414 shares during the period. Artemis Investment Management LLP lifted its stake in shares of TransAlta by 34.2% in the 4th quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 1,818,379 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $22,999,000 after purchasing an additional 463,266 shares during the period. Capital Innovations LLC purchased a new position in shares of TransAlta in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,259,000. Sculptor Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of TransAlta in the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,958,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,123,833 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $140,694,000 after buying an additional 174,449 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 59.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of TransAlta in a report on Friday, July 17th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of TransAlta to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on TransAlta in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Zacks Research cut TransAlta from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded TransAlta from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.00.

TransAlta Trading Down 2.2%

TransAlta stock opened at $12.46 on Thursday. TransAlta Corporation has a 12-month low of $11.38 and a 12-month high of $17.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -23.08 and a beta of 0.69. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $13.63 and a 200 day moving average of $13.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.61.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.01 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $406.19 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $436.36 million. TransAlta had a negative net margin of 9.46% and a positive return on equity of 9.52%. As a group, research analysts predict that TransAlta Corporation will post 0.17 earnings per share for the current year.

TransAlta Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.07 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. TransAlta’s payout ratio is -37.04%.

TransAlta Company Profile

TransAlta Corporation, originally founded in 1909 as Calgary Power Company Ltd., is a publicly traded energy company specializing in the development, ownership and operation of power generation and transmission assets. Headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, TransAlta has grown from its early hydroelectric roots into a diversified energy provider with a multi-fuel generating fleet.

The company’s core business activities encompass power generation, asset management and energy trading services.