Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ Decreases Holdings in TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC)

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ trimmed its holdings in shares of TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC - Free Report) TSE: TA by 78.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 52,800 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 188,200 shares during the period. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ's holdings in TransAlta were worth $754,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of TAC. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in TransAlta by 638.9% in the 4th quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 7,995,489 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $112,936,000 after buying an additional 6,913,431 shares during the period. Wealth High Governance Capital Ltda purchased a new stake in TransAlta in the fourth quarter worth $1,756,000. PCJ Investment Counsel Ltd. lifted its stake in TransAlta by 18.6% in the fourth quarter. PCJ Investment Counsel Ltd. now owns 294,500 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $4,160,000 after acquiring an additional 46,250 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in TransAlta in the fourth quarter valued at $822,000. Finally, Sage Investment Counsel LLC purchased a new position in TransAlta during the 4th quarter valued at $156,000. 59.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

TransAlta Stock Down 0.2 %

TransAlta stock traded down $0.02 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $9.76. The stock had a trading volume of 2,183,234 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,012,716. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $11.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $11.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.80 and a beta of 0.89. TransAlta Co. has a 12-month low of $5.94 and a 12-month high of $14.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.94.

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TransAlta (NYSE:TAC - Get Free Report) TSE: TA last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported ($0.16) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.12 by ($0.28). TransAlta had a return on equity of 18.47% and a net margin of 6.38%. The firm had revenue of $484.60 million during the quarter. Equities research analysts anticipate that TransAlta Co. will post 0.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

TransAlta Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Sunday, June 1st will be given a $0.0458 dividend. This is a positive change from TransAlta's previous quarterly dividend of $0.04. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.88%. TransAlta's payout ratio is 43.90%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank lowered shares of TransAlta from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Cibc World Mkts upgraded TransAlta from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com lowered TransAlta from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, CIBC upgraded TransAlta from a "neutral" rating to an "outperformer" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $23.00 to $19.50 in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $19.50.

TransAlta Company 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.