National Bank of Canada FI Acquires 299,594 Shares of TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC)

National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) by 9.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,618,296 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 299,594 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI owned about 1.20% of TransAlta worth $25,267,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in TAC. NBC Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 156.3% in the first quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 4,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 2,500 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 1,381.5% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,237 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 3,951 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of TransAlta in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of TransAlta in the second quarter valued at about $64,000. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new stake in shares of TransAlta in the first quarter valued at about $66,000. 59.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of TransAlta from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday.

TransAlta Stock Performance

NYSE TAC opened at $8.93 on Friday. TransAlta Co. has a 52-week low of $5.94 and a 52-week high of $9.75. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $7.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $7.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.43, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.84. The company has a market capitalization of $2.67 billion, a PE ratio of 5.76 and a beta of 0.91.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.08. TransAlta had a net margin of 18.41% and a return on equity of 47.71%. The business had revenue of $425.37 million during the quarter. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.17 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that TransAlta Co. will post 0.75 EPS for the current year.

TransAlta Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Sunday, September 1st will be paid a $0.044 dividend. This is an increase from TransAlta’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.04. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.97%. TransAlta’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.97%.

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.