Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Boosts Stake in TransAlta Corporation $TAC

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) by 6.0% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,629,540 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 91,665 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s holdings in TransAlta were worth $21,343,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in shares of TransAlta in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of TransAlta by 37.1% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 812 shares in the last quarter. Warren Street Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of TransAlta during the fourth quarter valued at $129,000. Ritter Alpha LP acquired a new stake in shares of TransAlta during the fourth quarter valued at $131,000. Finally, Sage Rhino Capital LLC increased its position in TransAlta by 8.7% during the 1st quarter. Sage Rhino Capital LLC now owns 11,078 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $145,000 after purchasing an additional 882 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on TAC. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of TransAlta in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. TD Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of TransAlta in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of TransAlta from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of TransAlta in a research report on Monday. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of TransAlta from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $24.50.

TransAlta Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:TAC opened at $12.45 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.93 billion, a P/E ratio of -69.14 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.64. TransAlta Corporation has a 52 week low of $11.38 and a 52 week high of $17.88. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $13.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $13.19.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.02. TransAlta had a positive return on equity of 8.85% and a negative net margin of 2.76%.The firm had revenue of $342.85 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $379.54 million. Equities research analysts forecast that TransAlta Corporation will post 0.21 EPS for the current year.

TransAlta Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.07 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. TransAlta’s dividend payout ratio is currently -105.56%.

About TransAlta

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.