The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Purchases 169,219 Shares of TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in shares of TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC - Free Report) TSE: TA by 22.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 929,631 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 169,219 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned 0.31% of TransAlta worth $6,582,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in TransAlta in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. NBC Securities Inc. grew its position in TransAlta by 156.3% during the first quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 4,100 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 2,500 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased 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 during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of TransAlta in the 2nd quarter valued at about $64,000. Finally, Evergreen Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of TransAlta during the 2nd quarter valued at about $72,000. Institutional investors own 59.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com cut shares of TransAlta from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th.

TransAlta Price Performance

Shares of NYSE TAC traded up $0.21 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $10.67. 664,008 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 760,283. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.18 billion, a PE ratio of 6.88 and a beta of 0.92. 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 Co. has a 52 week low of $5.94 and a 52 week high of $10.68. The company's 50 day moving average price is $8.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $7.61.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC - Get Free Report) TSE: TA last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $425.37 million for the quarter. TransAlta had a return on equity of 47.71% and a net margin of 18.41%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.17 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that TransAlta Co. will post 0.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TransAlta Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Sunday, September 1st were paid a $0.044 dividend. This is a boost from TransAlta's previous quarterly dividend of $0.04. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.65%. TransAlta's dividend payout ratio is 10.97%.

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.