Raymond James Financial Inc. Takes $822,000 Position in TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC - Free Report) TSE: TA in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 58,118 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $822,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its holdings in TransAlta by 638.9% in the 4th quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 7,995,489 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $112,936,000 after acquiring an additional 6,913,431 shares during the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership bought a new position in shares of TransAlta during the fourth quarter valued at $67,038,000. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 512.0% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,870,226 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $68,880,000 after purchasing an additional 4,074,395 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 79.7% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,255,923 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $116,764,000 after purchasing an additional 3,662,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can lifted its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 9,290,110 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $131,222,000 after purchasing an additional 716,139 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 59.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TAC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded TransAlta from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Cibc World Mkts raised TransAlta from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. CIBC raised TransAlta from a "neutral" rating to an "outperformer" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $23.00 to $19.50 in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on TransAlta from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, Scotiabank downgraded TransAlta from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $19.75.

TransAlta Stock Performance

TAC traded up $0.17 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $8.83. The company had a trading volume of 69,233 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,143,142. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $9.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $10.89. The company has a market cap of $2.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.55 and a beta of 0.71. TransAlta Co. has a 1 year low of $6.78 and a 1 year high of $14.64.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC - Get Free Report) TSE: TA last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.09 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $526.69 million for 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%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that TransAlta Co. will post 0.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TransAlta Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Sunday, June 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.0458 per share. This represents a $0.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. This is a boost from TransAlta's previous quarterly dividend of $0.04. TransAlta's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -900.00%.

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.