TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) Reaches New 12-Month High at $10.60

TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $10.60 and last traded at $10.57, with a volume of 618348 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $10.36.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com cut TransAlta from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th.

TransAlta Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $3.16 billion, a PE ratio of 6.72 and a beta of 0.91. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $8.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $7.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.43.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $425.37 million during the quarter. TransAlta had a return on equity of 47.71% and a net margin of 18.41%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.17 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that TransAlta Co. will post 0.75 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.044 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. This is an increase from TransAlta’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.04. This represents a $0.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.66%. TransAlta’s payout ratio is 10.97%.

Institutional Trading of TransAlta

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. NBC Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in TransAlta by 156.3% during the 1st quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 4,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 2,500 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in TransAlta by 1,381.5% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,237 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 3,951 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in TransAlta in the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Mather Group LLC. bought a new stake in shares of TransAlta during the second quarter valued at approximately $64,000. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new stake in shares of TransAlta in the first quarter valued at approximately $66,000. 59.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

TransAlta Company 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.