Toronto Dominion Bank Raises Stock Position in TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC)

Toronto Dominion Bank increased its position in shares of TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) by 17.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,042,448 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 305,647 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank’s holdings in TransAlta were worth $28,850,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Signaturefd LLC increased its position in shares of TransAlta by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 27,627 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $391,000 after purchasing an additional 1,420 shares in the last quarter. Tobam acquired a new position in TransAlta during the 4th quarter valued at about $46,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in TransAlta by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 126,761 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,811,000 after buying an additional 4,140 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its stake in TransAlta by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 147,703 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,090,000 after buying an additional 4,641 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its holdings in TransAlta by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 73,942 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,041,000 after acquiring an additional 5,168 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.00% of the company’s stock.

TransAlta Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:TAC opened at $9.10 on Monday. TransAlta Co. has a 52-week low of $6.78 and a 52-week high of $14.64. The stock has a market cap of $2.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.20 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.94. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $9.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $10.85.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.07 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.09 by ($0.02). TransAlta had a return on equity of 18.47% and a net margin of 6.38%. The business had revenue of $526.69 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $509.31 million. Equities analysts predict that TransAlta Co. will post 0.41 EPS for the current year.

TransAlta Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Sunday, June 1st will be issued a $0.0458 dividend. This is an increase from TransAlta’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.04. This represents a $0.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. TransAlta’s dividend payout ratio is -900.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of TransAlta in a report on Friday, April 11th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of TransAlta from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of TransAlta from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. CIBC raised shares of TransAlta from a “neutral” rating to an “outperformer” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $23.00 to $19.50 in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered shares of TransAlta from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, TransAlta has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $19.75.

About TransAlta

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.