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

Clayton Partners LLC decreased its position in TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC - Free Report) TSE: TA by 21.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 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 accounts for approximately 7.6% of Clayton Partners LLC's holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Clayton Partners LLC owned approximately 0.26% of TransAlta worth $11,036,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tobam bought a new stake in shares of TransAlta during the fourth quarter worth $46,000. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in TransAlta during the 3rd quarter worth about $61,000. Ballentine Partners LLC acquired a new stake in TransAlta in the 4th quarter valued at about $145,000. Private Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in shares of TransAlta in the fourth quarter worth about $150,000. Finally, Sage Investment Counsel LLC acquired a new position in shares of TransAlta during the fourth quarter worth approximately $156,000. 59.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

TransAlta Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of TAC stock traded up $0.16 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $9.69. The company had a trading volume of 1,495,126 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,012,386. TransAlta Co. has a 1-year low of $5.94 and a 1-year high of $14.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.94, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The firm has a market cap of $2.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.62 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a 50 day moving average of $11.28 and a 200 day moving average of $11.15.

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

TransAlta Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Sunday, June 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.0458 per share. This is a positive change from TransAlta's previous quarterly dividend of $0.04. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.89%. TransAlta's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.90%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TAC has been the topic of several research reports. Cibc World Mkts raised TransAlta from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Scotiabank lowered TransAlta from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com lowered TransAlta from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, CIBC upgraded shares of TransAlta from a "neutral" rating to an "outperformer" rating and cut their target price for the company from $23.00 to $19.50 in a research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, TransAlta presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $19.50.

TransAlta 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.