Vanguard Group Inc. Increases Holdings in TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC)

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC - Free Report) TSE: TA by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,229,823 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 150,554 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 3.44% of TransAlta worth $144,680,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tobam purchased a new stake in shares of TransAlta in the fourth quarter worth about $46,000. Ballentine Partners LLC acquired a new position in TransAlta in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $145,000. Private Advisor Group LLC purchased a new stake in TransAlta in the 4th quarter worth approximately $150,000. Sage Investment Counsel LLC acquired a new stake in shares of TransAlta during the 4th quarter worth approximately $156,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of TransAlta during the 4th quarter worth approximately $209,000. 59.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on TAC. Cibc World Mkts raised shares of TransAlta from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Scotiabank lowered shares of TransAlta from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com lowered TransAlta from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on TransAlta in a research report on Friday. They set a "hold" rating on the stock. Finally, CIBC raised TransAlta from a "neutral" rating to an "outperformer" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $23.00 to $19.50 in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, TransAlta currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $19.50.

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TransAlta Price Performance

Shares of TAC stock traded up $0.16 on Friday, reaching $8.68. 739,488 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,143,773. The company has a market cap of $2.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.16 and a beta of 0.72. TransAlta Co. has a 1 year low of $5.94 and a 1 year high of $14.64. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $9.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $11.11. 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 (NYSE:TAC - Get Free Report) TSE: TA last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported ($0.16) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.12 by ($0.28). The firm had revenue of $484.60 million for the quarter. TransAlta had a return on equity of 18.47% and a net margin of 6.38%. Equities research analysts forecast that TransAlta Co. will post 0.41 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, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Sunday, June 1st will be given a $0.0458 dividend. This represents a $0.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.11%. This is a boost from TransAlta's previous quarterly dividend of $0.04. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. TransAlta's dividend payout ratio is 43.90%.

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.