220,336 Shares in TransAlta Corporation $TAC Bought by Nuveen LLC

Key Points

• Nuveen LLC has acquired a $2.06 million position in TransAlta Corporation by purchasing 220,336 shares during the first quarter, representing approximately 0.07% ownership of the company.
• Multiple hedge funds have also increased their stakes in TransAlta, with Vanguard Group Inc. and Bank of America Corp DE making notable additions to their shares.
• TransAlta recently declared an increased quarterly dividend of $0.065 per share, up from $0.05, highlighting a commitment to returning value to shareholders amidst a challenging financial landscape.

Nuveen LLC bought a new position in TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC - Free Report) TSE: TA in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 220,336 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,056,000. Nuveen LLC owned about 0.07% of TransAlta as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. NBC Securities Inc. raised its holdings in TransAlta by 145,600.0% in the 1st quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 2,914 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 2,912 shares during the last quarter. Tobam raised its stake in shares of TransAlta by 239.2% in the first quarter. Tobam now owns 10,943 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $102,000 after purchasing an additional 7,717 shares during the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of TransAlta during the first quarter valued at $119,000. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its holdings in TransAlta by 64.9% in the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 17,525 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $164,000 after buying an additional 6,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main bought a new position in TransAlta during the 4th quarter valued at about $167,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on TAC shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on shares of TransAlta from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of TransAlta from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, June 14th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of TransAlta from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. TD Securities reissued a "buy" rating and set a $20.00 price target (up from $19.00) on shares of TransAlta in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Scotiabank raised TransAlta from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $16.00 to $20.00 in a report on Friday, July 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $19.88.

TransAlta Price Performance

Shares of TAC stock traded up $0.09 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $12.13. The company had a trading volume of 474,393 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,106,567. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.98, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $11.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $10.39. TransAlta Corporation has a 52-week low of $7.82 and a 52-week high of $14.64. The company has a market capitalization of $3.60 billion, a P/E ratio of -28.87 and a beta of 0.78.

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

TransAlta Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Monday, September 1st will be given a $0.065 dividend. This is an increase from TransAlta's previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. This represents a $0.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. TransAlta's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -45.24%.

TransAlta 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.