TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) Stock Price Up 7.2%

Shares of TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) were up 7.2% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $8.09 and last traded at $8.08. Approximately 1,005,064 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 35% from the average daily volume of 744,932 shares. The stock had previously closed at $7.54.

TransAlta Stock Up 8.1 %

The stock has a market cap of $2.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.87 and a beta of 0.89. The business’s 50 day moving average is $7.12 and its 200-day moving average is $6.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.95, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.69.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) last released its earnings results on Friday, May 3rd. The utilities provider reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $702.47 million during the quarter. TransAlta had a net margin of 18.70% and a return on equity of 45.47%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that TransAlta Co. will post 0.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

TransAlta Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Sunday, September 1st will be paid a $0.044 dividend. 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.16%. TransAlta’s payout ratio is currently 11.61%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 1.0% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,381,544 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $72,919,000 after buying an additional 82,419 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new stake in TransAlta in the 4th quarter valued at about $198,000. Heronetta Management L.P. purchased a new position in TransAlta in the 4th quarter worth approximately $557,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 6,370,416 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $53,007,000 after purchasing an additional 149,378 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 49.1% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 59,247 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $495,000 after purchasing an additional 19,514 shares during the last quarter. 59.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

TransAlta Company Profile

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.