TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning.

TransAlta Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of TransAlta stock opened at $8.51 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.43. The company has a market capitalization of $2.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.49 and a beta of 0.88. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $7.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $7.03. TransAlta has a 12-month low of $5.94 and a 12-month high of $10.04.

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

TransAlta Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Sunday, September 1st will be given a dividend of $0.044 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. This is a positive change from TransAlta’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.04. This represents a $0.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.07%. TransAlta’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.61%.

Institutional Trading of TransAlta

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Creative Planning grew its stake in shares of TransAlta by 161.9% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 50,311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $356,000 after acquiring an additional 31,103 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 22.3% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 929,631 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,582,000 after acquiring an additional 169,219 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in shares of TransAlta in the second quarter valued at $252,000. Evergreen Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of TransAlta in the second quarter valued at $72,000. Finally, Clayton Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of TransAlta by 2,293.5% during the 2nd quarter. Clayton Partners LLC now owns 458,155 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,244,000 after purchasing an additional 439,013 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.00% of the company’s stock.

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.