Bank of Nova Scotia Has $16.85 Million Stock Holdings in TransAlta Corporation $TAC

Bank of Nova Scotia lowered its stake in TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) by 6.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,233,715 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 82,915 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia owned 0.42% of TransAlta worth $16,854,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd bought a new position in shares of TransAlta in the 3rd quarter valued at $36,395,000. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. grew its position in TransAlta by 19.5% during the 2nd quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 70,554 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $754,000 after acquiring an additional 11,532 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in TransAlta by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,949,384 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $149,569,000 after acquiring an additional 248,027 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in TransAlta by 15.1% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 10,425,309 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $142,373,000 after purchasing an additional 1,369,830 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Greenland Capital Management LP raised its position in TransAlta by 107.8% in the second quarter. Greenland Capital Management LP now owns 181,126 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,950,000 after purchasing an additional 93,976 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 59.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on TAC shares. TD Securities reissued a “buy” rating on shares of TransAlta in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of TransAlta in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Zacks Research upgraded shares of TransAlta from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 5th. Finally, National Bank Financial lowered shares of TransAlta from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $20.00.

TransAlta Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of TAC opened at $12.48 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.70 billion, a PE ratio of -26.54 and a beta of 0.77. TransAlta Corporation has a 12 month low of $7.82 and a 12 month high of $17.88. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $12.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $13.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.54.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported ($0.04) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.05 by ($0.09). TransAlta had a negative net margin of 7.51% and a positive return on equity of 10.00%. The company had revenue of $436.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $493.39 million. On average, analysts anticipate that TransAlta Corporation will post 0.41 EPS for the current year.

TransAlta Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st will be issued a $0.07 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 1st. This is a boost from TransAlta’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. TransAlta’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -42.55%.

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.