TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC) Shares Bought by Wellington Management Group LLP

Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC - Free Report) TSE: TA by 321.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 405,715 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 309,509 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP owned approximately 0.14% of TransAlta worth $5,735,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in shares of TransAlta during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,812,000. Barclays PLC lifted its position in TransAlta by 281.5% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 143,062 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,482,000 after purchasing an additional 105,562 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC bought a new position in TransAlta during the fourth quarter valued at $145,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position 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 worth $1,277,000 after purchasing an additional 2,524 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP purchased a new stake in shares of TransAlta in the 4th quarter worth $7,139,000. 59.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

TransAlta Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of TAC stock traded up $0.08 on Wednesday, reaching $8.69. 142,463 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,143,400. TransAlta Co. has a twelve month low of $5.94 and a twelve month high of $14.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.94. The company has a market capitalization of $2.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.11 and a beta of 0.72. The business's 50 day moving average price is $9.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $11.08.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC - Get Free Report) TSE: TA last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported ($0.16) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.12 by ($0.28). The company had revenue of $484.60 million for the quarter. TransAlta had a return on equity of 18.47% and a net margin of 6.38%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that TransAlta Co. will post 0.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TransAlta Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Sunday, June 1st will be issued a $0.0458 dividend. This represents a $0.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.11%. This is a boost from TransAlta's previous quarterly dividend of $0.04. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. TransAlta's dividend payout ratio is presently 43.90%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on TAC. CIBC raised TransAlta from a "neutral" rating to an "outperformer" rating and cut their target price for the company from $23.00 to $19.50 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Cibc World Mkts upgraded TransAlta from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of TransAlta in a research report on Friday, April 11th. They set a "hold" rating for the company. Scotiabank lowered shares of TransAlta from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of TransAlta from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $19.50.

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.