Blue Trust Inc. Grows Position in TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC)

Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) by 56.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 28,275 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 10,211 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in TransAlta were worth $400,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in TAC. Financial Management Professionals Inc. purchased a new position in TransAlta in the 3rd quarter worth $42,000. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of TransAlta in the third quarter worth about $61,000. Ballentine Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of TransAlta in the fourth quarter worth about $145,000. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new stake in shares of TransAlta during the third quarter worth about $130,000. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in TransAlta in the third quarter valued at approximately $194,000. 59.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

TransAlta Stock Down 0.3 %

TAC opened at $11.51 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $13.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $10.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.10 and a beta of 0.84. TransAlta Co. has a fifty-two week low of $5.94 and a fifty-two week high of $14.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.94, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.74.

TransAlta Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Saturday, March 1st will be issued a $0.0423 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.47%. TransAlta’s payout ratio is 48.65%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TAC has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of TransAlta from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Scotiabank lowered shares of TransAlta from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Desjardins reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of TransAlta in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. CIBC downgraded TransAlta from a “sector outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Cibc World Mkts cut TransAlta from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

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.