Great West Life Assurance Co. Can purchased a new stake in TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC – Get Rating) (TSE:TA) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 15,561 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $138,000.
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A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in TransAlta by 153.2% in the first quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,497 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 3,326 shares during the last quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of TransAlta in the third quarter valued at about $38,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 61.1% in the second quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 11,683 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $133,000 after buying an additional 4,433 shares during the last quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of TransAlta in the second quarter valued at about $54,000. Finally, US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 1,416.1% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 5,276 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 4,928 shares during the last quarter. 64.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
TransAlta Stock Performance
Shares of TAC opened at $9.20 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.09. The company has a market capitalization of $2.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.33 and a beta of 1.01. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $9.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.37. TransAlta Co. has a 1 year low of $7.55 and a 1 year high of $11.85.
TransAlta (NYSE:TAC – Get Rating) (TSE:TA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.24 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $712.20 million for the quarter. TransAlta had a net margin of 4.00% and a return on equity of 6.52%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that TransAlta Co. will post 0.66 EPS for the current year.
TransAlta Increases Dividend
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.041 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 28th. This represents a $0.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.78%. This is an increase from TransAlta’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.04. TransAlta’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.67%.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Credit Suisse Group lowered shares of TransAlta from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 1st. TD Securities lowered their target price on shares of TransAlta from C$18.00 to C$17.50 in a research report on Wednesday, November 9th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of TransAlta from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 16th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of TransAlta from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 14th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of TransAlta from C$15.50 to C$16.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $16.10.
TransAlta Profile
TransAlta Corp. engages in the generation and distribution of electricity through wind, hydro, gas and coal power plants. It operates through the following business segments: Hydro, Wind and Solar, Gas, Energy Transition, Energy Marketing, and Corporate. The Hydro, Wind and Solar, Gas and Energy Transition business segments are responsible for operating and maintaining the company’s electrical generation facilities in Canada, Australia, and the US.
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