TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC) Announces Quarterly Dividend of C$0.07

Key Points

• TransAlta Corporation announced a quarterly dividend of C$0.07 per share, with the ex-dividend date set for December 1st, and payments to be made on January 1st.
• The company has a dividend payout ratio of 111.8%, indicating that it is using its balance sheet to cover dividends, though future earnings estimates suggest it could manage a lower payout ratio of 43.2% moving forward.
• TransAlta's stock is currently trading around $16.74, up from a 52-week low of $7.82, reflecting significant growth within the past year.

TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC - Get Free Report) TSE: TA announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, October 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 1st will be paid a dividend of 0.065 per share by the utilities provider on Thursday, January 1st. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 1st.

TransAlta has a dividend payout ratio of 111.8% meaning the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Analysts expect TransAlta to earn $0.44 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.19 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 43.2%.

TransAlta Stock Performance

Shares of TAC stock opened at $16.74 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $4.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -39.84 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.98, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.79. TransAlta has a 52 week low of $7.82 and a 52 week high of $17.69. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $13.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $11.47.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.06. TransAlta had a negative net margin of 6.79% and a negative return on equity of 2.06%. The company had revenue of $451.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $473.94 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that TransAlta will post 0.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On TransAlta

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bessemer Group Inc. purchased a new position in TransAlta in the 1st quarter worth approximately $638,000. Artemis Investment Management LLP grew its stake in TransAlta by 86.6% in the 1st quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 942,962 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $8,802,000 after buying an additional 437,511 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its stake in TransAlta by 64.9% in the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 17,525 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $164,000 after buying an additional 6,900 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH purchased a new position in TransAlta in the 1st quarter worth approximately $3,937,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in TransAlta by 27.5% in the 1st quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 67,846 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $633,000 after buying an additional 14,636 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.00% of the company's stock.

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.

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