Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Boosts Position in TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in shares of TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) by 27.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 67,846 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,636 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in TransAlta were worth $633,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. NBC Securities Inc. grew its holdings in TransAlta by 145,600.0% during the first quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 2,914 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 2,912 shares during the period. Vident Advisory LLC grew its holdings in TransAlta by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 69,004 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $976,000 after purchasing an additional 3,499 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in TransAlta by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 126,761 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,811,000 after purchasing an additional 4,140 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in TransAlta by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 147,703 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,090,000 after purchasing an additional 4,641 shares during the period. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its holdings in TransAlta by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 73,942 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,041,000 after purchasing an additional 5,168 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 59.00% of the company’s stock.

TransAlta Price Performance

NYSE:TAC opened at $12.17 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.98. The company has a market capitalization of $3.61 billion, a P/E ratio of -28.96 and a beta of 0.75. TransAlta Corporation has a 12 month low of $7.82 and a 12 month high of $14.64. The business’s 50-day moving average is $11.25 and its 200 day moving average is $10.29.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) last posted its earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $451.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $473.94 million. TransAlta had a negative return on equity of 2.06% and a negative net margin of 6.79%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that TransAlta Corporation will post 0.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TransAlta Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 1st will be given a dividend of $0.065 per share. This represents a $0.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. This is a boost from TransAlta’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. TransAlta’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -45.24%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on TAC. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on TransAlta from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Jefferies Financial Group raised TransAlta from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. TD Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $20.00 price objective (up previously from $19.00) on shares of TransAlta in a research note on Tuesday. National Bankshares reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of TransAlta in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Scotiabank raised TransAlta from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $16.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $19.88.

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.