TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC) Shares Purchased by Toronto Dominion Bank

Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its position in TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC - Free Report) TSE: TA by 17.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,042,448 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 305,647 shares during the quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank owned 0.69% of TransAlta worth $28,850,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Tobam purchased a new stake in shares of TransAlta in the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,000. Ballentine Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of TransAlta in the 4th quarter valued at about $145,000. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC purchased a new position in TransAlta in the fourth quarter worth $147,000. Private Advisor Group LLC purchased a new stake in TransAlta in the fourth quarter valued at about $150,000. Finally, Sage Investment Counsel LLC purchased a new position in shares of TransAlta in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $156,000. 59.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

TransAlta Price Performance

Shares of TransAlta stock traded up $0.08 on Thursday, reaching $8.95. The company's stock had a trading volume of 703,489 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,156,038. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.94. The company has a market capitalization of $2.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.83 and a beta of 0.71. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $8.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $10.80. TransAlta Co. has a 52-week low of $6.78 and a 52-week high of $14.64.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC - Get Free Report) TSE: TA last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.07 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.09 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $526.69 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $509.31 million. TransAlta had a return on equity of 18.47% and a net margin of 6.38%. Analysts expect that TransAlta Co. will post 0.41 EPS for the current year.

TransAlta Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Sunday, June 1st will be given a dividend of $0.0458 per share. This represents a $0.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This is an increase from TransAlta's previous quarterly dividend of $0.04. TransAlta's dividend payout ratio is -900.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TAC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on TransAlta in a research note on Friday, April 11th. They set a "hold" rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of TransAlta from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Scotiabank lowered shares of TransAlta from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Cibc World Mkts raised shares of TransAlta from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, CIBC raised shares of TransAlta from a "neutral" rating to an "outperformer" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $23.00 to $19.50 in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $19.75.

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.