TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. Buys 386,696 Shares of TransAlta Corporation $TAC

Key Points

• TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. acquired 386,696 TransAlta shares worth approximately $4.7 million, representing about 0.12% of the company. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 59% of TransAlta.
• Analyst sentiment is moderately bullish, with one Strong Buy, six Buy, and two Hold ratings; the average price target is $24.50.
• TransAlta reported quarterly EPS of $0.13, beating estimates of $0.11, and paid a quarterly dividend of C$0.07 per share, equivalent to a 2.2% annual yield.

TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. bought a new position in shares of TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC - Free Report) TSE: TA during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 386,696 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $4,698,000. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. owned about 0.12% of TransAlta at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in TransAlta in the second quarter valued at $123,434,000. Value Aligned Research Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of TransAlta in the 1st quarter valued at about $34,128,000. Cibc World Market Inc. bought a new position in shares of TransAlta in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,799,000. Bank of Nova Scotia bought a new position in shares of TransAlta in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,349,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of TransAlta by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,629,540 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $21,343,000 after purchasing an additional 91,665 shares during the last quarter. 59.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on TAC. Zacks Research raised shares of TransAlta from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, August 17th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of TransAlta in a research note on Friday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of TransAlta in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised 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 data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $24.50.

TransAlta Stock Up 1.2%

TAC opened at $13.01 on Tuesday. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $12.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $12.95. TransAlta Corporation has a 1-year low of $11.38 and a 1-year high of $17.88. The stock has a market cap of $4.11 billion, a PE ratio of -72.25 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 (NYSE:TAC - Get Free Report) TSE: TA last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.02. The firm 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%. As a group, research analysts expect that TransAlta Corporation will post 0.21 earnings per share for the current year.

TransAlta Announces Dividend

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

TransAlta 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.

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