Blue Trust Inc. Raises Holdings in TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC)

Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) by 326.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 18,064 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,827 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in TransAlta were worth $187,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of TransAlta in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of TransAlta during the second quarter worth about $64,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new stake in shares of TransAlta in the first quarter worth about $66,000. Evergreen Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in TransAlta during the 2nd quarter valued at about $72,000. Finally, Sage Rhino Capital LLC purchased a new position in TransAlta during the 2nd quarter valued at about $79,000. Institutional investors own 59.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

TransAlta Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of TransAlta stock opened at $10.16 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $9.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $8.02. TransAlta Co. has a 12-month low of $5.94 and a 12-month high of $10.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.43. The company has a market cap of $3.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.73 and a beta of 0.92.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 earned $0.17 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that TransAlta Co. will post 0.75 EPS for the current year.

TransAlta Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.044 per share. This represents a $0.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. TransAlta’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.26%.

TransAlta 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.