TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) Stock Price Up 7.2% After Strong Earnings

TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) rose 7.2% during mid-day trading on Thursday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock traded as high as $8.09 and last traded at $8.08. Approximately 1,005,064 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 35% from the average daily volume of 744,932 shares. The stock had previously closed at $7.54.

The utilities provider reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $425.37 million for the quarter. TransAlta had a return on equity of 45.67% and a net margin of 18.41%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.17 earnings per share.

TransAlta Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Sunday, September 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.044 per share. This is an increase from TransAlta’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.04. This represents a $0.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. TransAlta’s dividend payout ratio is 11.61%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TAC. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in TransAlta by 25.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,498,451 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $87,242,000 after buying an additional 2,116,907 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in TransAlta by 76.4% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,387,290 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,458,000 after purchasing an additional 1,899,671 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in TransAlta by 23.4% during the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 4,199,245 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,612,000 after purchasing an additional 796,503 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia increased its holdings in TransAlta by 93.8% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 1,525,761 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,688,000 after purchasing an additional 738,338 shares in the last quarter. 59.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

TransAlta Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.95. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $7.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $6.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.18 and a beta of 0.88.

About TransAlta

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.