National Bank of Canada FI Has $25.27 Million Position in TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC)

National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC - Free Report) TSE: TA by 9.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,618,296 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 299,594 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI owned 1.20% of TransAlta worth $25,267,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. NBC Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 156.3% in the first quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 4,100 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 2,500 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in TransAlta by 1,381.5% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,237 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 3,951 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new stake in TransAlta during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new position in TransAlta during the 2nd quarter valued at about $64,000. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acquired a new position in shares of TransAlta in the 1st quarter valued at about $66,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 59.00% of the company's stock.

TransAlta Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE TAC traded down $0.03 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $8.93. The company had a trading volume of 481,158 shares, compared to its average volume of 621,817. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.70 billion, a PE ratio of 5.76 and a beta of 0.91. TransAlta Co. has a twelve month low of $5.94 and a twelve month high of $9.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.43, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.84. The stock's 50 day moving average is $7.87 and its 200-day moving average is $7.17.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC - Get Free Report) TSE: TA last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $425.37 million during the quarter. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.17 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that TransAlta Co. will post 0.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TransAlta Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Sunday, September 1st will be given a $0.044 dividend. This represents a $0.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.97%. This is an increase from TransAlta's previous quarterly dividend of $0.04. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. TransAlta's payout ratio is currently 10.97%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of TransAlta from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday.

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.