TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC - Get Free Report) TSE: TA was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 10,040,000 shares, an increase of 20.2% from the January 31st total of 8,350,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,760,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.7 days. Currently, 3.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short.Analysts Set New Price TargetsA number of research firms have commented on TAC. CIBC raised shares of TransAlta from a "neutral" rating to an "outperformer" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $23.00 to $19.50 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Scotiabank cut TransAlta from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Cibc World Mkts raised TransAlta from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note 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, Desjardins restated a "hold" rating on shares of TransAlta in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $19.50.Check Out Our Latest Analysis on TransAltaTransAlta Trading Down 4.5 %NYSE:TAC traded down $0.44 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $9.39. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,726,467 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,149,964. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $11.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $11.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.94, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.74. TransAlta has a 1 year low of $5.94 and a 1 year high of $14.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.90 and a beta of 0.83. 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 analysts' consensus estimates 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%. Research analysts expect that TransAlta will post 0.41 EPS for the current fiscal year. TransAlta Increases DividendThe company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Sunday, June 1st will be issued a $0.0458 dividend. This is a boost from TransAlta's previous quarterly dividend of $0.04. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.95%. TransAlta's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.02%. Institutional Investors Weigh In On TransAltaA number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Creative Planning grew its holdings in TransAlta by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 53,803 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $557,000 after acquiring an additional 3,492 shares during the last quarter. Tacita Capital Inc grew its stake in shares of TransAlta by 11.7% in the third quarter. Tacita Capital Inc now owns 245,081 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,544,000 after purchasing an additional 25,626 shares during the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new position in TransAlta during the 3rd quarter valued at about $130,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. bought a new position in TransAlta during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $194,000. Finally, Metis Global Partners LLC purchased a new stake in TransAlta in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $360,000. 59.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors. About TransAlta (Get Free Report)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.Further ReadingFive stocks we like better than TransAltaThe 3 Best Blue-Chip Stocks to Buy NowInvesting in Small-Cap AI: Powering the Next Tech RevolutionShort Selling - The Pros and Cons Occidental Petroleum Drops to 52-Week Low: Buy, Sell, or Hold?Profitably Trade Stocks at 52-Week HighsSuper Micro Computer Is Now NASDAQ Compliant—But Is It a Buy?This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.Should You Invest $1,000 in TransAlta Right Now?Before you consider TransAlta, you'll want to hear this.MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and TransAlta wasn't on the list.While TransAlta currently has a Moderate Buy rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.View The Five Stocks Here