Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Reduces Stock Position in TransAlta Corporation $TAC

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp reduced its holdings in TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) by 63.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 41,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 72,200 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s holdings in TransAlta were worth $516,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its stake in shares of TransAlta by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 48,926 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $620,000 after buying an additional 893 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning lifted its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 52,339 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $715,000 after acquiring an additional 1,003 shares during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 34,051 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $464,000 after acquiring an additional 1,827 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 79,801 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,011,000 after acquiring an additional 1,932 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Savant Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 27.7% in the 3rd quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 15,002 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $205,000 after acquiring an additional 3,257 shares during the last quarter. 59.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

TransAlta Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of TAC opened at $12.79 on Thursday. TransAlta Corporation has a 1-year low of $8.34 and a 1-year high of $17.88. The company has a 50-day moving average of $12.93 and a 200 day moving average of $13.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -27.20 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.54, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.67.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported ($0.04) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $493.39 million. On average, research analysts expect that TransAlta Corporation will post 0.22 EPS for the current year.

TransAlta Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be issued a $0.07 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 1st. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. This is an increase from TransAlta’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. TransAlta’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -40.43%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $24.00 target price on shares of TransAlta in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce restated an “outperform” rating on shares of TransAlta in a report on Thursday, April 16th. National Bank Financial upgraded shares of TransAlta from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of TransAlta in a report on Monday, April 20th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, TransAlta presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.33.

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.