Legal & General Group Plc Makes New $3.73 Million Investment in TransAlta Corporation $TAC

Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in shares of TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 269,484 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,727,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of TAC. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd acquired a new position in TransAlta during the second quarter worth $29,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in TransAlta in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in 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 during the period. Ritter Alpha LP acquired a new stake in TransAlta in the fourth quarter valued at $131,000. Finally, Sage Rhino Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of 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. 59.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

TransAlta Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of NYSE TAC opened at $11.98 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.79 billion, a P/E ratio of -66.55 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.64, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.84. TransAlta Corporation has a 1 year low of $11.38 and a 1 year high of $17.88. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $12.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $13.08.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) last posted its quarterly 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 negative net margin of 2.76% and a positive return on equity of 8.85%. The firm had revenue of $342.85 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $379.54 million. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that TransAlta Corporation will post 0.21 earnings per share for the current year.

TransAlta Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be issued a $0.07 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. TransAlta’s dividend payout ratio is presently -111.11%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TAC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Zacks Research raised shares of TransAlta from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of TransAlta from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 18th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce restated an “outperform” rating on shares of TransAlta in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of TransAlta to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of TransAlta in a report on Monday, August 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, TransAlta has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $24.50.

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.