TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. Acquires New Stake in TransAlta Corporation $TAC

TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. bought a new position in TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 332,341 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $28,581,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 27.8% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 208,969 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,954,000 after purchasing an additional 45,478 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of TransAlta by 3.5% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 152,816 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,660,000 after buying an additional 5,214 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 18.9% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,075,171 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,601,000 after buying an additional 170,829 shares in the last quarter. Westerly Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of TransAlta during the second quarter worth about $8,281,000. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its position in TransAlta by 418.8% in the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 295,347 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,186,000 after buying an additional 238,422 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 59.00% of the company’s stock.

TransAlta Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE TAC opened at $11.98 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.64, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.84. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $12.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $13.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.79 billion, a PE ratio of -66.55 and a beta of 0.70. TransAlta Corporation has a 52 week low of $11.38 and a 52 week high of $17.88.

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

TransAlta Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be paid a $0.07 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. TransAlta’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -111.11%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TAC has been the topic of several research reports. Weiss Ratings cut TransAlta from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 18th. Zacks Research raised shares of TransAlta from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce restated an “outperform” rating on shares of TransAlta in a report on Friday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of TransAlta in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded shares of TransAlta to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $24.50.

TransAlta Profile

TransAlta Corporation, originally founded in 1909 as Calgary Power Company Ltd., is a publicly traded energy company specializing in the development, ownership and operation of power generation and transmission assets. Headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, TransAlta has grown from its early hydroelectric roots into a diversified energy provider with a multi-fuel generating fleet.

The company’s core business activities encompass power generation, asset management and energy trading services.