TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC) Position Lessened by Millennium Management LLC

Millennium Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) by 17.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,384,052 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,570,720 shares during the quarter. Millennium Management LLC owned about 2.44% of TransAlta worth $52,324,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TAC. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of TransAlta during the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. NBC Securities Inc. lifted its position in TransAlta by 156.3% in the 1st quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 4,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 2,500 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in TransAlta by 1,381.5% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,237 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 3,951 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. bought a new position in TransAlta in the 2nd quarter worth about $64,000. Finally, Evergreen Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of TransAlta in the second quarter valued at approximately $72,000. 59.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

TransAlta Price Performance

Shares of NYSE TAC opened at $10.36 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $8.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $7.47. The stock has a market cap of $3.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.68 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.43. TransAlta Co. has a fifty-two week low of $5.94 and a fifty-two week high of $10.60.

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

TransAlta Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Sunday, September 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.044 per share. 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 yield of 1.70%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. TransAlta’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.97%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com lowered TransAlta from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th.

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.