TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC) Shares Purchased by Mackenzie Financial Corp

Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC - Free Report) TSE: TA by 0.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,049,100 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 33,676 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp owned approximately 1.69% of TransAlta worth $47,119,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in TransAlta by 280.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 5,385,966 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $76,211,000 after acquiring an additional 3,969,037 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in TransAlta by 79.7% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,255,923 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $116,764,000 after acquiring an additional 3,662,900 shares during the last quarter. Potrero Capital Research LLC increased its holdings in TransAlta by 373.2% in the 4th quarter. Potrero Capital Research LLC now owns 2,323,944 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $32,884,000 after acquiring an additional 1,832,803 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 9,290,110 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $131,222,000 after buying an additional 716,139 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EAM Global Investors LLC bought a new stake in shares of TransAlta in the 4th quarter worth about $9,022,000. Institutional investors own 59.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on TAC. Scotiabank upgraded shares of TransAlta from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $16.00 to $20.00 in a report on Friday, July 18th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of TransAlta from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of TransAlta from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of TransAlta from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, TransAlta has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $19.83.

TransAlta Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:TAC traded up $0.35 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $12.40. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,472,286 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,085,836. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $11.01 and a 200 day moving average of $10.33. TransAlta Corporation has a twelve month low of $7.40 and a twelve month high of $14.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.68 billion, a PE ratio of -619.69 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.19.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC - Get Free Report) TSE: TA last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $451.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $473.94 million. TransAlta had a net margin of 0.01% and a negative return on equity of 1.64%. On average, equities analysts expect that TransAlta Corporation will post 0.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

TransAlta Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 1st will be given a dividend of $0.065 per share. This is a boost 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 -950.00%.

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.