35,647 Shares in TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC) Purchased by Marshall Wace LLP

Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in shares of TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 35,647 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $252,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of TAC. NBC Securities Inc. increased its holdings in TransAlta by 156.3% during the 1st quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 4,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 2,500 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in TransAlta by 1,381.5% during the 2nd 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. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new stake in TransAlta during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new position in TransAlta in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $64,000. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new position in TransAlta in the 1st quarter worth approximately $66,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

TransAlta Price Performance

TAC stock opened at $10.33 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.43, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.75. TransAlta Co. has a one year low of $5.94 and a one year high of $10.73. The stock has a market cap of $3.13 billion, a PE ratio of 6.66 and a beta of 0.92. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $9.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $7.70.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.08. TransAlta had a net margin of 18.41% and a return on equity of 47.71%. The company had revenue of $425.37 million during the quarter. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.17 EPS. On average, analysts predict that TransAlta Co. will post 0.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

TransAlta Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Sunday, September 1st were paid a $0.044 dividend. This is a boost from TransAlta’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.04. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.70%. TransAlta’s dividend payout ratio is 10.97%.

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.