National Bank of Canada FI Has $34.61 Million Position in TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC)

National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in shares of TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC - Free Report) TSE: TA by 23.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,199,245 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 796,503 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI owned about 1.36% of TransAlta worth $34,612,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of TAC. Quantbot Technologies LP raised its stake in shares of TransAlta by 25.7% during the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 11,712 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $102,000 after buying an additional 2,392 shares in the last quarter. WCG Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of TransAlta during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $159,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new stake in shares of TransAlta in the 4th quarter worth approximately $198,000. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 101.0% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 36,723 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $319,000 after acquiring an additional 18,451 shares during the period. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 21.0% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 39,733 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $348,000 after acquiring an additional 6,884 shares during the period. 59.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

TransAlta Price Performance

Shares of TAC traded up $0.15 on Monday, reaching $7.22. The stock had a trading volume of 987,335 shares, compared to its average volume of 734,774. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.22 billion, a PE ratio of 4.66 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.06. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $6.54 and a 200 day moving average of $7.32. TransAlta Co. has a twelve month low of $5.94 and a twelve month high of $10.40.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC - Get Free Report) TSE: TA last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 23rd. The utilities provider reported ($0.20) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.10 by ($0.30). The company had revenue of $624.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $305.79 million. TransAlta had a net margin of 18.70% and a return on equity of 43.02%. TransAlta's quarterly revenue was down 26.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.45) EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that TransAlta Co. will post 0.51 EPS for the current year.

TransAlta Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Saturday, June 1st will be given a dividend of $0.0438 per share. This is an increase from TransAlta's previous quarterly dividend of $0.04. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 31st. This represents a $0.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.43%. TransAlta's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.74%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com cut TransAlta from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 12th.

About TransAlta

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.