Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Takes $194,000 Position in TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 18,760 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $194,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in TransAlta in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $514,000. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ grew its holdings in TransAlta by 122.7% in the 2nd quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 143,400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,015,000 after buying an additional 79,000 shares during the last quarter. Clayton Partners LLC grew its holdings in TransAlta by 2,293.5% in the 2nd quarter. Clayton Partners LLC now owns 458,155 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,244,000 after buying an additional 439,013 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in TransAlta by 9.0% in the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 3,618,296 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,267,000 after buying an additional 299,594 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in TransAlta by 22.3% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 929,631 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,582,000 after buying an additional 169,219 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 59.00% of the company’s stock.

TransAlta Price Performance

TransAlta stock opened at $10.75 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $10.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $8.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.94, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.67. TransAlta Co. has a one year low of $5.94 and a one year high of $11.10. The company has a market capitalization of $3.21 billion, a PE ratio of 29.07 and a beta of 0.92.

TransAlta Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Shareholders of record on Sunday, December 1st will be given a $0.044 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.64%. TransAlta’s payout ratio is 45.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on TAC shares. StockNews.com downgraded TransAlta from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Desjardins reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of TransAlta in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th.

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.