The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Has $9.75 Million Stake in TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company decreased its position in shares of TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC - Free Report) TSE: TA by 14.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 688,661 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 116,342 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned 0.23% of TransAlta worth $9,753,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ballentine Partners LLC acquired a new position in TransAlta in the 4th quarter valued at $145,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of TransAlta by 2.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 122,621 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,277,000 after acquiring an additional 2,524 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of TransAlta by 20,398.6% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 191,047 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,703,000 after acquiring an additional 190,115 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of TransAlta by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 79,957 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,131,000 after acquiring an additional 5,593 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP bought a new position in shares of TransAlta during the fourth quarter worth about $7,139,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.00% of the company's stock.

TransAlta Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:TAC traded up $0.16 on Friday, hitting $8.67. 1,323,619 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,147,380. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.94, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.74. The company's 50 day moving average price is $9.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $10.89. TransAlta Co. has a one year low of $6.78 and a one year high of $14.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.15 and a beta of 0.71.

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

TransAlta Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Sunday, June 1st will be paid a $0.0458 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. This is a boost from TransAlta's previous quarterly dividend of $0.04. This represents a $0.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.11%. TransAlta's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -900.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on TAC. Scotiabank cut shares of TransAlta from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of TransAlta from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com lowered shares of TransAlta from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of TransAlta from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, CIBC raised shares of TransAlta from a "neutral" rating to an "outperformer" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $23.00 to $19.50 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $19.75.

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.