TransAlta Corporation $TAC Shares Newly Bought by Cardinal Point Capital Management ULC

Cardinal Point Capital Management ULC bought a new position in shares of TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 182,010 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,209,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Lee Financial Co acquired a new stake in shares of TransAlta in the third quarter valued at approximately $158,000. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. acquired a new position in TransAlta during the 3rd quarter worth $4,698,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in TransAlta during the 2nd quarter worth $159,000. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in TransAlta by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,250,024 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $17,338,000 after buying an additional 60,658 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in TransAlta by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 290,774 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,015,000 after buying an additional 10,957 shares in the last quarter. 59.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

TransAlta Stock Performance

TransAlta stock opened at $13.33 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $4.22 billion, a PE ratio of -74.07 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.64. TransAlta Corporation has a 1 year low of $11.38 and a 1 year high of $17.88. The company’s 50-day moving average is $12.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $12.95.

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

TransAlta Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 1st were issued a C$0.07 dividend. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 1st. TransAlta’s dividend payout ratio is currently -111.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TAC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of TransAlta in a research report on Friday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of TransAlta in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Weiss Ratings upgraded TransAlta from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, Zacks Research raised TransAlta from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 17th. 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, TransAlta currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $24.50.

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.