Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Purchases New Position in TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC - Free Report) TSE: TA in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 174,656 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,812,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio owned about 0.06% of TransAlta at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Creative Planning raised its stake in TransAlta by 6.9% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 53,803 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $557,000 after buying an additional 3,492 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 1,381.5% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,237 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 3,951 shares in the last quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. acquired a new position in shares of TransAlta during the third quarter valued at about $42,000. Signaturefd LLC raised its position in shares of TransAlta by 23.6% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 26,207 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $272,000 after purchasing an additional 5,008 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in TransAlta in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $61,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 59.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Desjardins restated a "hold" rating on shares of TransAlta in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Scotiabank raised TransAlta to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, StockNews.com cut TransAlta from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday.

TransAlta Stock Performance

NYSE:TAC traded down $0.05 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $13.91. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,574,326 shares, compared to its average volume of 808,197. TransAlta Co. has a fifty-two week low of $5.94 and a fifty-two week high of $14.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.94, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The firm has a market cap of $4.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.60 and a beta of 0.91. The firm's 50 day moving average is $11.18 and its 200-day moving average is $9.25.

TransAlta Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Saturday, March 1st will be paid a $0.0423 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.22%. TransAlta's payout ratio is currently 45.95%.

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.