Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. Purchases Shares of 18,272 TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC)

Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 18,272 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $171,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of TAC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in TransAlta by 4.2% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 895,049 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,273,000 after acquiring an additional 36,076 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. raised its stake in TransAlta by 176.5% in the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 117,815 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,220,000 after buying an additional 75,201 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in TransAlta in the first quarter valued at about $472,000. Cibc World Market Inc. raised its stake in TransAlta by 48.1% in the first quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 527,834 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,468,000 after buying an additional 171,425 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in TransAlta by 2.2% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 642,345 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,655,000 after buying an additional 13,793 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.93% of the company’s stock.

TransAlta Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:TAC opened at $7.79 on Tuesday. TransAlta Co. has a 52-week low of $7.22 and a 52-week high of $10.40. The company has a quick ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.60. The stock has a market cap of $2.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.13 and a beta of 1.07. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $8.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $9.32.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.03 by $0.14. TransAlta had a net margin of 7.95% and a return on equity of 21.41%. The business had revenue of $625.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $538.20 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.24) EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 36.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that TransAlta Co. will post 1.44 EPS for the current year.

TransAlta Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 1st will be given a dividend of $0.0398 per share. This represents a $0.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 30th. TransAlta’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.43%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TAC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. TD Securities initiated coverage on shares of TransAlta in a research report on Friday, October 6th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of TransAlta in a report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $16.10.

TransAlta 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 has a net ownership interest of approximately 922 megawatts (MW) of owned hydro electrical-generating capacity located in Alberta, British Columbia, and Ontario.