Short Interest in TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC) Drops By 19.1%

TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) saw a significant drop in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,380,000 shares, a drop of 19.1% from the September 30th total of 4,180,000 shares. Approximately 1.1% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 756,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.5 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TAC has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com cut TransAlta from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Desjardins started coverage on shares of TransAlta in a report on Wednesday. They set a “buy” rating for the company.

TransAlta Stock Performance

NYSE TAC traded up $0.41 on Wednesday, hitting $10.50. The stock had a trading volume of 1,021,922 shares, compared to its average volume of 745,335. TransAlta has a one year low of $5.94 and a one year high of $10.73. The stock has a market cap of $3.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.68 and a beta of 0.92. The company’s 50-day moving average is $9.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $8.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.43.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.08. TransAlta had a return on equity of 47.71% and a net margin of 18.41%. The business had revenue of $425.37 million during the quarter. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.17 EPS. On average, analysts expect that TransAlta will post 0.69 earnings per share for the current year.

TransAlta Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Stockholders of record on Sunday, December 1st will be given a $0.044 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.68%. TransAlta’s dividend payout ratio is 11.26%.

Institutional Trading of TransAlta

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in TransAlta by 1,381.5% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,237 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 3,951 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of TransAlta in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Financial Management Professionals Inc. bought a new position in TransAlta during the 3rd quarter worth $42,000. Mather Group LLC. bought a new position in shares of TransAlta during the second quarter worth approximately $64,000. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acquired a new stake in shares of TransAlta during the 1st quarter worth $66,000. 59.00% of the stock is currently owned by 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.