386,696 Shares in TransAlta Corporation $TAC Purchased by TD Waterhouse Canada Inc.

TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. bought a new stake in TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 386,696 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,698,000.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in TransAlta during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $123,434,000. Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new stake in TransAlta in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,434,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new stake in TransAlta in the 2nd quarter valued at $4,015,000. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in TransAlta in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,854,000. Finally, Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. acquired a new position in TransAlta in the 2nd quarter valued at $3,453,000. Institutional investors own 59.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of TransAlta in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Zacks Research raised TransAlta from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 17th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of TransAlta in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of TransAlta from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $24.50.

TransAlta Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:TAC opened at $13.01 on Tuesday. TransAlta Corporation has a 12-month low of $11.38 and a 12-month high of $17.88. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $12.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $12.95. The firm has a market cap of $4.11 billion, a PE ratio of -72.25 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.64.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.02. TransAlta had a negative net margin of 2.76% and a positive return on equity of 8.85%. The company had revenue of $342.85 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $379.54 million. Equities research analysts predict that TransAlta Corporation will post 0.21 earnings per share for the current year.

TransAlta Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 1st were given a dividend of C$0.07 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. TransAlta’s dividend payout ratio is currently -111.11%.

TransAlta Company Profile

TransAlta Corporation is a Canada-based power generation and wholesale marketing company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta. The company develops, owns and operates a diversified portfolio of electricity-generating facilities, including hydroelectric, wind, solar, natural gas and coal-fired power assets.

TransAlta supplies electricity to utilities, commercial and industrial customers, and wholesale markets. Its activities include power generation, energy marketing, asset management and the development of renewable energy projects.