TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) Hits New 52-Week High at $9.99

TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $9.99 and last traded at $9.99, with a volume of 1123 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $9.80.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of TransAlta from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th.

TransAlta Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $3.02 billion, a PE ratio of 6.32 and a beta of 0.91. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $8.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $7.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.43, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.84.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.13 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $425.37 million during the quarter. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.17 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that TransAlta Co. will post 0.75 EPS for the current year.

TransAlta Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Sunday, September 1st will be paid a $0.044 dividend. This represents a $0.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.76%. This is an increase from TransAlta’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.04. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. TransAlta’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.97%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On TransAlta

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in TransAlta by 147.2% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 64,434 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $535,000 after purchasing an additional 38,365 shares during the last quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP purchased a new position in TransAlta in the fourth quarter worth approximately $256,000. TD Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in TransAlta by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 3,902,599 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,615,000 after buying an additional 98,334 shares during the last quarter. Claret Asset Management Corp increased its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 12.3% in the 4th quarter. Claret Asset Management Corp now owns 47,677 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $397,000 after acquiring an additional 5,230 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Scotia Capital Inc. raised its holdings in TransAlta by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 1,882,014 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $15,525,000 after purchasing an additional 101,707 shares in the last quarter. 59.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.