Renaissance Technologies LLC Lowers Holdings in TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC)

Renaissance Technologies LLC lowered its holdings in TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) by 24.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,770,511 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 574,989 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned approximately 0.59% of TransAlta worth $12,535,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TAC. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of TransAlta by 25.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,498,451 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $87,242,000 after acquiring an additional 2,116,907 shares in the last quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP increased its holdings in TransAlta by 16.8% during the 4th quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 5,145,630 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,760,000 after purchasing an additional 740,786 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in TransAlta by 76.4% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,387,290 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,458,000 after purchasing an additional 1,899,671 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of TransAlta by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 3,902,599 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,615,000 after buying an additional 98,334 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in shares of TransAlta by 9.0% during the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 3,618,296 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,267,000 after buying an additional 299,594 shares in the last quarter. 59.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

TransAlta Stock Performance

Shares of TAC stock opened at $9.80 on Monday. TransAlta Co. has a 12 month low of $5.94 and a 12 month high of $9.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.43. The company has a market cap of $2.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.32 and a beta of 0.91. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $8.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $7.34.

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

TransAlta Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.