The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Raises Stake in TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in shares of TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) by 22.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 929,631 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 169,219 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned about 0.31% of TransAlta worth $6,582,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in TransAlta in the 2nd quarter valued at $514,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of TransAlta by 25.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,498,451 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $87,242,000 after purchasing an additional 2,116,907 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of TransAlta in the first quarter valued at $3,779,000. Clayton Partners LLC lifted 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 purchasing an additional 439,013 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ boosted its position in TransAlta by 122.7% during the second quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 143,400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,015,000 after acquiring an additional 79,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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 note on Wednesday, September 25th.

TransAlta Stock Performance

TAC opened at $10.67 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $8.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $7.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.43. The firm has a market cap of $3.18 billion, a PE ratio of 6.88 and a beta of 0.92. TransAlta Co. has a fifty-two week low of $5.94 and a fifty-two week high of $10.68.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $425.37 million for the quarter. TransAlta had a net margin of 18.41% and a return on equity of 47.71%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.17 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict 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 was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Sunday, September 1st were given a dividend of $0.044 per share. The ex-dividend date was 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 yield of 1.65%. TransAlta’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.97%.

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.