Clayton Partners LLC Acquires 439,013 Shares of TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC)

Clayton Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) by 2,293.5% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 458,155 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 439,013 shares during the quarter. TransAlta comprises 2.6% of Clayton Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Clayton Partners LLC’s holdings in TransAlta were worth $3,244,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. NBC Securities Inc. grew its position in TransAlta by 156.3% during the 1st quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 4,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 2,500 shares during the last quarter. DORCHESTER WEALTH MANAGEMENT Co boosted its stake in shares of TransAlta by 2.3% during the first quarter. DORCHESTER WEALTH MANAGEMENT Co now owns 148,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $951,000 after purchasing an additional 3,375 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 50.3% in the fourth quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 11,576 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $96,000 after purchasing an additional 3,876 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of TransAlta by 1,381.5% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,237 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 3,951 shares during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new stake in TransAlta during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of TransAlta from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th.

TransAlta Stock Up 5.4 %

Shares of NYSE:TAC opened at $9.80 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $8.32 and its 200 day moving average is $7.33. The company has a market cap of $2.97 billion, a PE ratio of 6.32 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.43, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.75. TransAlta Co. has a 1 year low of $5.94 and a 1 year high of $9.90.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.08. TransAlta had a return on equity of 47.71% and a net margin of 18.41%. The firm had revenue of $425.37 million for the quarter. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.17 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that TransAlta Co. will post 0.75 EPS for the current year.

TransAlta Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Sunday, September 1st will be given a $0.044 dividend. This represents a $0.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.80%. This is a boost from TransAlta’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.04. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. TransAlta’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.97%.

TransAlta 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.