TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) Hits New 52-Week High at $10.60

Shares of TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock 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 Upgrades and Downgrades

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

TransAlta Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $3.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.72 and a beta of 0.91. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $8.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $7.49. 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 quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.08. The firm 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 last year, the company posted $0.17 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that TransAlta Co. will post 0.75 earnings per share 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 dividend of $0.044 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. This is a boost from TransAlta’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.04. This represents a $0.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.66%. TransAlta’s payout ratio is 10.97%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On TransAlta

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. NBC Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 156.3% during the first 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 in the last quarter. Clayton Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. Clayton Partners LLC now owns 18,546 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $154,000 after purchasing an additional 2,517 shares during the last quarter. DORCHESTER WEALTH MANAGEMENT Co lifted its position in TransAlta by 2.3% during the first quarter. DORCHESTER WEALTH MANAGEMENT Co now owns 148,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $951,000 after purchasing an additional 3,375 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of TransAlta by 50.3% in the 4th quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 11,576 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $96,000 after buying an additional 3,876 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew 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 worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 3,951 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.00% of the company’s stock.

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.