Clayton Partners LLC Sells 216,911 Shares of TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC)

Clayton Partners LLC lessened its stake in TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC - Free Report) TSE: TA by 21.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 779,931 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 216,911 shares during the quarter. TransAlta comprises about 7.6% of Clayton Partners LLC's holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Clayton Partners LLC owned 0.26% of TransAlta worth $11,036,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its position in shares of TransAlta by 638.9% during the fourth 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. Rubric Capital Management LP boosted its position in shares of TransAlta by 20.0% during the third quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 5,622,961 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $58,254,000 after buying an additional 935,803 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of TransAlta by 9.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,593,023 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $47,613,000 after buying an additional 408,184 shares during the period. Yaupon Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in TransAlta by 69.9% in the third quarter. Yaupon Capital Management LP now owns 2,685,955 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $27,840,000 after purchasing an additional 1,105,191 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in TransAlta by 37.8% in the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,286,800 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $13,343,000 after purchasing an additional 352,860 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 59.00% of the company's stock.

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TransAlta Stock Performance

Shares of TAC traded down $0.12 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $9.58. 673,254 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,011,485. The business's 50-day moving average price is $11.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $11.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.94, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.67. TransAlta Co. has a twelve month low of $5.94 and a twelve month high of $14.64. The company has a market capitalization of $2.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.35 and a beta of 0.89.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC - Get Free Report) TSE: TA last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported ($0.16) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.12 by ($0.28). The company had revenue of $484.60 million for the quarter. TransAlta had a net margin of 6.38% and a return on equity of 18.47%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that TransAlta Co. will post 0.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

TransAlta Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Sunday, June 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.0458 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. This is an increase from TransAlta's previous quarterly dividend of $0.04. This represents a $0.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.91%. TransAlta's dividend payout ratio is currently 43.90%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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