Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Has $1.55 Million Stock Position in TransAlta Corporation $TAC

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp decreased its position in TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) by 45.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 113,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 94,000 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s holdings in TransAlta were worth $1,550,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in TAC. Savant Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of TransAlta in the second quarter valued at about $127,000. Fox Run Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in TransAlta in the 2nd quarter valued at about $140,000. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC bought a new stake in TransAlta in the 2nd quarter valued at about $159,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new position in shares of TransAlta during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $173,000. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP increased its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 41.8% during the second quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 18,033 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $195,000 after purchasing an additional 5,312 shares during the period. 59.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

TransAlta Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:TAC opened at $12.79 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.79 billion, a PE ratio of -26.63 and a beta of 0.75. TransAlta Corporation has a 52 week low of $7.82 and a 52 week high of $17.88. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $13.18 and its 200-day moving average is $13.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.22, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.79.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.06 by ($0.07). TransAlta had a negative net margin of 7.39% and a positive return on equity of 3.00%. The firm had revenue of $441.57 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $558.84 million. Sell-side analysts predict that TransAlta Corporation will post 0.41 earnings per share for the current year.

TransAlta Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Sunday, March 1st will be paid a $0.065 dividend. This represents a $0.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 27th. TransAlta’s payout ratio is -39.58%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of TransAlta in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Natl Bk Canada lowered TransAlta from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of TransAlta in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. TD Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of TransAlta in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of TransAlta from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $19.88.

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.