The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Takes Position in TransAlta Corporation $TAC

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new position in TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 290,774 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,015,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tacita Capital Inc acquired a new position in TransAlta during the second quarter worth $3,073,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in TransAlta by 6.0% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,629,540 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $21,343,000 after purchasing an additional 91,665 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new position in shares of TransAlta in the first quarter valued at $5,448,000. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its stake in shares of TransAlta by 23.8% during the 1st quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 1,338,554 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $17,595,000 after buying an additional 257,356 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Innovations LLC acquired a new position in shares of TransAlta during the 4th quarter worth $1,259,000. 59.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TAC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Scotiabank upgraded shares of TransAlta to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of TransAlta in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of TransAlta in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Zacks Research upgraded shares of TransAlta from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Finally, TD Securities reissued a “buy” rating on shares of TransAlta in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, TransAlta currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $24.50.

TransAlta Stock Performance

NYSE:TAC opened at $11.77 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.64. The company has a market cap of $3.72 billion, a P/E ratio of -65.39 and a beta of 0.70. TransAlta Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $11.38 and a fifty-two week high of $17.88. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $13.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $13.11.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.02. TransAlta had a negative net margin of 2.76% and a positive return on equity of 8.85%. The company had revenue of $342.85 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $379.54 million. Analysts expect that TransAlta Corporation will post 0.21 EPS for the current year.

TransAlta Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be issued a $0.07 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. TransAlta’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -111.11%.

TransAlta Profile

TransAlta Corporation, originally founded in 1909 as Calgary Power Company Ltd., is a publicly traded energy company specializing in the development, ownership and operation of power generation and transmission assets. Headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, TransAlta has grown from its early hydroelectric roots into a diversified energy provider with a multi-fuel generating fleet.

The company’s core business activities encompass power generation, asset management and energy trading services.