Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd Acquires Shares of 33,444 TransAlta Corporation $TAC

Key Points

• Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd has invested approximately $313,000 in TransAlta Corporation, acquiring 33,444 shares during the first quarter.
• Analysts have expressed positive outlooks for TransAlta, with Scotiabank and Jefferies Financial Group upgrading their ratings, resulting in an average price target of $19.88.
• TransAlta has announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.065 per share, which represents a 2.1% yield and is an improvement from the previous dividend of $0.05.

Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new position in TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC - Free Report) TSE: TA during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 33,444 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $313,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 1,150.1% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 904,342 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $8,456,000 after purchasing an additional 832,000 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of TransAlta in the first quarter valued at $638,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets bought a new position in shares of TransAlta in the fourth quarter valued at $346,000. NBC Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 145,600.0% during the first quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 2,914 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 2,912 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sowell Financial Services LLC increased its position in shares of TransAlta by 55.3% during the first quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC now owns 22,533 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $211,000 after acquiring an additional 8,019 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 59.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. TD Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $20.00 price target (up previously from $19.00) on shares of TransAlta in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Wall Street Zen upgraded TransAlta from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, June 14th. Scotiabank raised TransAlta from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $16.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Friday, July 18th. National Bankshares reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of TransAlta in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded TransAlta from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $19.88.

TransAlta Stock Performance

TransAlta stock traded up $0.35 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $13.49. 1,413,892 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 971,736. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $12.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $10.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.98. TransAlta Corporation has a one year low of $7.82 and a one year high of $14.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.00 billion, a PE ratio of -32.12 and a beta of 0.78.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC - Get Free Report) TSE: TA last announced its earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $451.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $473.94 million. TransAlta had a negative return on equity of 2.06% and a negative net margin of 6.79%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that TransAlta Corporation will post 0.41 earnings per share for the current year.

TransAlta Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 1st will be given a $0.065 dividend. This is a positive change from TransAlta's previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. This represents a $0.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. TransAlta's payout ratio is presently -45.24%.

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.